Goddess Offerings (35) / Stacking the Shelves (17)

My last video book haul for the year! See you in 2014~

Stacking the Shelves hosted is by Tynga's reviews! So leave a comment below and share your own haul!


For review:

Ripper by Isabel Allende
Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor
Evertrue (Everneath #3) by Brodi Ashton
Sea of Shadows (Age of Legends #1) by Kelley Armstrong
Elusion by Claudia Gabel, Cheryl Klam
Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

Arclight by Josin L. McQuein
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

Horde (Razorland #3) by Ann Aguirre
The Trap (The Hunt #3) by Andrew Fukuda
Emerald Green (The Ruby Red Trilogy #3) by Kerstin Gier

e-ARCs:
Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine
After the End by Amy Plum
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Gifted:
Defy by Sarah B. Larson
An awesome limited edition Harry Potter shirt with the new cover art!

For tour:
Roomies by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando (not pictured)

Christmas Gift:
Just One Day by Gayle Forman + a cutesy Paris themed notebook (Love you Dani, thank you!)

Bought:
Tall Story by Candy Gourlay

Thanks so much to HarperCollins International, Hardie Grant Egmont, Hachette Philippines, Scholastic Philippines and Macmillan!

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Waiting on Wednesday (138): Love and Other Foreign Words + Sekret

Ahhhhh, the holidays. I am so busy shopping for presents, helping my mom come up with a menu for Christmas and preparing for things for 2014 that I can barely give my blog time. I hope you're all doing well! (Send some snow here while you're reading this, okay?)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

Title: Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan
Release Date: May 1st 2014
Published by: Dial

Want? Add to your Goodreads list!

Summary (from Goodreads):

Can anyone be truly herself--or truly in love--in a language that's not her own?

Sixteen-year-old Josie lives her life in translation. She speaks High School, College, Friends, Boyfriends, Break-ups, and even the language of Beautiful Girls. But none of these is her native tongue--the only people who speak that are her best friend Stu and her sister Kate. So when Kate gets engaged to an epically insufferable guy, how can Josie see it as anything but the mistake of a lifetime? Kate is determined to bend Josie to her will for the wedding; Josie is determined to break Kate and her fiancé up. As battles are waged over secrets and semantics, Josie is forced to examine her feelings for the boyfriend who says he loves her, the sister she loves but doesn't always like, and the best friend who hasn't said a word--at least not in a language Josie understands.

Why I'm waiting for Love and Other Foreign Words:

The summary mentioned John Green and Rainbow Rowell in one sentence, so I'm definitely curious about this book. I need a YA Contemporary novel so bad and this one just called out to me. I love how simple the summary sounds, and a little bit vague on speaking of the languages, and yet it still managed to make me compelled to know more about it. This sounds like a fun and smart read, definitely with a potential, so I am keeping my eye on it!

Title: Sekret (Sekret #1) by Lindsay Smith
Release Date: April 1st 2014
Published by: Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan Children's

Want? Add to your Goodreads list!

Summary (from Goodreads):

From debut author Lindsay Smith comes an espionage thriller with a dash of both history and dystopia.

Yulia’s father always taught her that an empty mind is a safe mind. She has to hide her thoughts and control her emotions to survive in Communist Russia, especially because she seems to be able to read the minds of the people she touches. When she’s captured by the KGB and forced to work as a psychic spy with a mission to undermine the U.S. space program, she’s thrust into a world of suspicion, deceit, and horrifying power where she can trust no one.

She certainly can’t trust Rostov, the cruel KGB operative running the psychic program. Or handsome Sergei who encourages her to cooperate with the KGB. Or brooding Valentin who tells her to rebel against them. And not the CIA, who have a psychic so powerful he can erase a person’s mind with his own thoughts. Yulia quickly learns she must rely on her own wits and power to survive in this world where no SEKRET can stay hidden for long.

Why I'm waiting for Sekret:

Interesting. How do you mix history and dystopia? This book might have the answers. Spies. Espionage. I love it! It's a thriller with an old feel to it. I've watched this documentary about children in Russia being trained to be spies in the US, and that just reminded me of Sekret. Definitely more than curious about this one now. A psychich who can erase a person's mind with his own thoughts? Okay, I think I need this book now.

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Share your WoWs now!

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ARC Review: The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe by Dan Poblocki + Giveaway!

Wouldn't it be fun to live in your own world? Sometimes, yes. But sometimes it can get dangerous, and sometimes it can be deadly.

Title: The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe by Dan Poblocki
Release Date: July 30th 2013
Published by: Scholastic Press
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary:

Has Gabriel created a monster?

Gabe and Seth used to play make-believe games in the woods behind Seth's family farm. It was the perfect creepy landscape for imagining they were up against beasts and monsters and villains.

Just as Gabe's decided he's outgrown their childish games, though, it appears that their most monstrous creation could be real.

Is there a ghoulish man-eating creature prowling the woods for victims? Or is Seth just determined to make Gabe think so -- no matter who gets hurt in the process?

Gabe's not sure which answer would prove more unsettling, but he's determined to learn the truth.

This is the first time I am reading a Dan Poblocki book, and needless to say I came prepared. Or so I thought. The very thought of reading a book tagged as "horror" is a challenge for someone with an overly active imagination like me. In some ways, I am like Gabe, creating a magical world where one is free to roam and be what one wants to be, only in Gabe's case, the make believe sometimes is true.

Gabe moved in with his family to his grandmother's famous mansion when a fire destroyed his house. There he met Seth, and they've been playing a game in the woods, where they were Robber Princes intent on destroying the Hunter. It was just a game, until weird things started happening not only to Gabe but to his classmates as well. Someone was always watching, and at first he thought it was Seth, but when they discovered it was someone else, someone more frightening and sinister than they can imagine, the race to uncover a fifty year old mystery starts. It's time for the Robber Princes to defeat the Hunter, or they might ended up being eaten for real.

The very problem this book posed to me as a reader was my difficulty connecting with the characters. I initially neither cared nor hated both Seth and Gabe at the start. Their personalities felt too weak, bland and boring for me. I even admit to skimming some parts of the first 50 pages. But as I started reading more, I began to understand a lot of things. Seth was bullied because he was different, and Gabe was popular because his grandmother is a famous illustrator. Against his better judgment, Gabe shunned Seth which caused him to say things he didn't mean, and it unleashed a horror they weren't prepared for. In some ways I felt sad for them. Would Gabe still be popular if he was an ordinary boy who didn't live in a grand house on a hill? Would Seth be bullied if people understood him more?

By the middle of the story, I was still fine. Seeing shadows moving? Maybe it's a trick of the eye. It wasn't that scary. Seeing a pair of blue eyes? Not really. But when inanimate objects started moving by themselves, a boy appearing out of nowhere, the darkness started shifting as if it has a mind of its own and when the sounds became louder and more frightening, I felt goosebumps every now and then. Why is it happening? Why Gabe? Why Seth? This was it, mystery and horror combining. And when the mysteries started unraveling one by one, that's when it felt like the story finally came to life.

The shift from the game, what's inside Gabe's head and what was really happening tend to be a little tricky, and it took a while for me to pick up important clues and the connection of each flashback to reality. It might be a little confusing for readers as it will require a little bit of focus to follow the flow of the story, but once curiosity takes over, you will find yourself wanting to know more like Gabe and Seth does. With the occasional outburst of surprising scenes peppered throughout the story, it builds up until the unexpected end. The way it ended gave me a different impression of the story as a whole, as I find myself a little sad with the events that occurred.

The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe is the kind of book that requires a second glance and a little bit of perseverance and patience to enjoy, but once you catch on, it's quite an entertaining though at times surprising read. It makes you wary of shadows and feeds a person's paranoid side. Maybe there's something lurking in the shadows. Or maybe our mind is playing tricks on us. It makes a person think that maybe, just maybe, there's truth hidden in some of the stories, no matter how scary they might be, that we read. Quite a suitable read for Halloween, if I may say so.

Content (plot, story flow, character):

A 3.5, close to 4 butterflies of a read. What pushed me into reading more was when things started becoming "real", otherwise it could just have been the word of a boy against another. The jump from "before" "now" and the world of Meatpie and Wraithen (Gabe and Seth) tends to be a little confusing as well if you aren't paying a lot of attention to the story.
Shining: Worthy of a Goddess' Love!

Book Cover:
If the aim of the cover is to scare the reader, then it succeeded. It has a potential of giving nightmares to younger kids.

GIVEAWAY!
WIN AN ARC OF THE HAUNTING OF GABRIEL ASHE!

I'm giving away my ARC of The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe. Even though it's almost Christmas, if you're in the mood for a scary read, then enter!

Rules:

Open to Philippine residents only

Must be at least 13 years old to enter

Ends December 21st.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Release Day Launch: Jennifer L. Armentrout's BITTER SWEET LOVE

I am so so glad to be a part of the release day launch for Jennifer Armentrout's Bitter Sweet Love. I have a copy of White Hot Kiss here, which I haven't read, but I thought I'd give the prequel, Bitter Sweet Love, a try first! If you've read this novella, tell me what you think! If you haven't and you want to know more about it, check my post below!

BITTER SWEET LOVE is the prequel novella to Jennifer’s new young adult fantasy series, The Dark Elements Series. The release date was yesterday, December 1st, which means you can now buy the novella! The first full-length novel, WHITE HOT KISS, will be released February 25th.

EXCERPT:

Moving lightning fast, Dez shifted and I was suddenly underneath him. His arms were on either side of my head, caging me in. Our bodies didn’t touch, but I felt him to the tips of my toes anyway.

The teasing grin disappeared when I dragged in a deep breath and my chest brushed his. Everything changed in an instant. The playful mood faded, replaced by primal heaviness. Our gazes collided and locked. Neither of us moved. His closeness sent a series of shivers skittering across my skin and made it hard to take slow, even breaths. My body tensed when his gaze dropped to my mouth.

He tilted his head to the side. “I… I honestly have no idea what we were talking about.”

“Good. Neither do I.”

He shifted his weight onto one arm, bring him closer. “Have you enjoyed your trip so far?”

“Yes.” I felt as if I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs.

“Good.” He lowered his head. His breath was minty as it moved across my cheek and then my lips. “I’m glad.”

I wasn’t really following the conversation and I wasn’t sure that he was fully aware of what was coming out of his mouth. I searched my hazy brain for something to say and wet my lips. I-

The sound that came out of Dez’s chest rumbled through me. A stuttered heartbeat passed and then his lips were on mine. There was nothing slow about this kiss. It scorched my skin and caused my body to stretch tight like a bowstring. The kiss deepened, spinning my senses. I shuddered when his hand curved over my shoulder and drifted down to my waist, his long fingers spreading out under the hem of my shirt, grazing the bare skin of my stomach.

I gasped, floored by the raw sensations pounding through my blood. My skin felt as if I was about to phase. Maybe I was.

“Jasmine,” he whispered, the word falling against my lips, and then his body was pressing mine into the mattress, heavy, sweet and hard.

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In a sizzling prequel novella to her new series The Dark Elements, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout draws readers into the extraordinary, irresistible world of Wardens and demons.

Dez wasn't just Jasmine's crush. A gargoyle Warden like Jas, he helped her come to terms with her destiny—fending off demons and maintaining the balance between good and evil. He was her everything…right until the moment he disappeared without a trace. It didn't help that Jas's father had just announced that she and Dez would one day be mated. Hard not to take that personally.
And now he's back, three years older, ten times hotter, ready to pick up exactly where they left off. But Jas isn't taking that risk again. Dez has seven days to meet all her conditions and earn back her trust. Seven days filled with terrifying danger and sweet temptation. Seven days to win her heart—or shatter it all over again…

Don't miss White Hot Kiss, book one in Jennifer L. Armentrout's The Dark Elements series from Harlequin TEEN!

Buy BITTER SWEET LOVE:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

Pre-order WHITE HOT KISS:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

About Jennifer L. Armentrout:

# 1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance.

She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. She also writes adult and New Adult romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Links:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
BITTER SWEET LOVE Goodreads
WHITE HOT KISS Goodreads
Jennifer L. Armentrout Goodreads
Jennifer L. Armentrout Amazon

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ARC Review: World After (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee

Waiting for this book to come out tested my patience in more ways than one. And when it finally came out? It's what I expected and more.

Title: World After (Penryn & the End of Days #2) by Susan Ee
Release Date: November 1st 2013
Published by: Hodder & Stoughton
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary:

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

Angelfall managed to surprise me when I read it the first time and World After just sustained that feeling of wanting to get more out of the story. The first book ended in a cliffhanger of sorts, and World After immediately picks up where Angelfall ended. If you were breathless after reading the first book, then I suggest you hold your breath a little more because World After plunges you in another suspense filled, adrenaline pumped story.

I did not expect much from Penryn in this story, my only wish was the consistency in her character as the heroine, but she struggled in a lot of new ways that made me feel sad at times and surprisingly, events in this book showed a different side to her. Readers knew about her devotion and love for Paige, but what if Penryn herself started to doubt that the child with them is not her sister anymore? The dynamics between her small family, with a seemingly lunatic mother and a sister who isn't the same as before changed as they started adopting to the world, and I was so interested to see how Penryn coped with her new reality. I was impressed with how real she felt. That struggle, that doubt that slowly crept inside, the fear, and that deep rooted love for her younger sibling.

The world is still as merciless, dangerous and gritty as it was, and through Penryn's eyes we see what life is like after the world collapsed. What's left of humanity is unkind to Paige, and it's not unwarranted. Everyone is on edge because in the world after, one wrong move and one can lose his life. I can't even begin to describe how much of a hard life it was for Penryn and the rest of the survivors and I liked how it was put into contrast with how easy things were for those who lead them. Penryn's very sanity was put to the test with the things she saw and experienced while on her quest to find Paige. It was horrifying, and though I give applause to the author for making it so, it is shocks me whenever I remember it. Also, where does Penryn's mother fit in the story?

I will admit, one of the reasons why I was determined to read this book was the anticipation I had for that moment when Raffe and Penryn will see each other again. But as always, nothing was easy for Penryn, and she had to go through a lot finally get a chance to meet Raffe. It was one of the defining moments of the novel that took my breath away. Believe me, you will not be disappointed. I was so glad that the familiar tension and attraction between Raffe and Penryn was still there, if not more palpable and obvious. We get to see more of Raffe's past through his sword and know more about Penryn's feelings for him, which was a joy to know because they both kept on guessing what each other felt. The anticipation for their eventual meeting and teaming up again to fight their way through the World After was nothing compared to what happened afterwards! It was, in all sense, so wonderful, romantic, sweet and despite the situation they're in, funny at times.

Susan Ee is just an incredible writer. There has been a slew of disappointing follow-ups for successful first books in anticipated series but the author managed to be consistent with her writing and giving us more of what we expected to happen. It's not just about Raffe getting his wings anymore, it's about saving what's left of the world after it was destroyed. World After paved a good way for the next book in the series, and if you're like me who is extremely satisfied with this installment, readers will be eagerly anticipating the next book. World After is one heck of a read! When you feel pity and sadness for Penryn, Paige and their mother, you will be thrown in a part of the story that'll make you feel scared and shocked and as if those weren't enough, you feel all sorts of warm feelings you shouldn't be feeling whenever Raffe and Penryn cross paths. Just when you thought nothing will faze you in World After, the developments towards the end of this book left me wide-eyed. Wow.

Amazing flow of the story, great pacing and consistent writing from Susan Ee. I want more!

My rating:

Content (plot, story flow, character):

I had to pause and take a deep breath after I've read the last page of this book. I can't believe it ended that way!

Stunning: Worthy of a Goddess' Praise!

Book Cover:
Those wings! I love it!

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