Cover reveal: NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE by Amy Nichols + GIVEAWAY!!!

I am so ecstatic to be a part of this cover reveal for debut author Amy Nichols! I haven't really read a lot of YA sci-fi recently, but this book makes me want to start again!

Ready? Ready?

This is the first time I'll be using the "more" tag, so click on the link to see the loveliness of the cover!!! Let me know your thoughts about the cover, okay? Leave me some comments!



ABOUT NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE:

Danny and Eevee are meant to be together . . .

Just not in this universe.

Eevee Solomon has high school down to a science. Get the grades. Get the recommendations. Get into an Ivy League college, and eventually land a killer job at NASA.

Then Danny Ogden enters the equation.

Danny is a street-smart graffiti artist. He’s always managed to stay out of serious trouble, but this time he’s out of luck. One minute he’s running from the cops, and the next, he jolts awake in an unfamiliar body–his own, but different. Somehow, he’s crossed into a parallel universe. Now his friends are his enemies, his parents are long dead, and coolheaded Eevee is not the brazen girl he once kissed back home.

Then again, this Eevee may be his only hope of getting home.

Eevee tells herself she’s only helping him in the name of quantum physics, but there’s something undeniably fascinating about this boy from another dimension . . . a boy who makes her question who she is, and who she might be in another place and time.

Find it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18309634-now-that-you-re-here

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About Amy Nichols:

Amy has been crafting stories for as long as she can remember. She earned a Master's in literature and worked for years as a web designer, though, before realizing what she really wanted to be was an author. Her first novel, YA sci-fi thriller Now That You're Here, will be published by Knopf Books for Young Readers on December 9, 2014. The follow-up, While You Were Gone, will be published in 2015. She is mentored by award-winning crime novelist James Sallis.

Amy is represented by Quinlan Lee of Adams Literary. She's an active member of SCBWI and SFWA, as well as a member of the Class of 2k14 debut authors.

Social Media Links:

Website: http://www.amyknichols.com
Blog: http://amyknichols.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amyknichols
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAmyKNichols
Class of 2k14: http://classof2k14.com

GIVEAWAY TIME!

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Review: Emerald Green (The Ruby Red Trilogy #3) by Kerstin Gier, Anthea Bell

Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Grammarly, a writing enhancement app that checks for more than 250 types of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, enhances vocabulary usage, and suggests citations. I use Grammarly's plagiarism check because it's a cool tool for hunting copycats. Make no mistake about it, I will find you plagiarizer!

Reading this book made me feel a little bit nostalgic.

Title: Emerald Green (The Ruby Red Trilogy #3) by Kerstin Gier, translated by Anthea Bell
Release Date: October 8th 2013
Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary:

Gwen has a destiny to fulfill, but no one will tell her what it is.
She’s only recently learned that she is the Ruby, the final member of the time-traveling Circle of Twelve, and since then nothing has been going right. She suspects the founder of the Circle, Count Saint-German, is up to something nefarious, but nobody will believe her. And she’s just learned that her charming time-traveling partner, Gideon, has probably been using her all along.

Emerald Green immediately picks up from the cliff hanger in Sapphire Blue. While Gwyneth is suffering a broken heart from Gideon's revelation in the previous book, they are a step closer to uncovering the mystery surrounding the Circle of Twelve and how it is tied to Gwyneth's fate.

I will say this: Gideon, you bastard. I didn't like him all that much in the first book, and just when I was liking him in Sapphire Blue, he unleashes a bomb against Gwen at the end of the book. And poor innocent Gwenny believed all of it. I liked Gwyneth, and her self-wallowing wasn't made boring by the way she was getting through Gideon's deception. Gwen's got this no nonsense attitude where she thinks too much but she wasn't the annoying type at all. I liked how Kerstin Gier wrote her, bubbly and funny and innocent at times, admitting to her own faults but certainly not letting it transform her into a lesser person. It was getting tiring to be constantly compared to Charlotte, and Gwen knew she can never be like her cousin, but still she doesn't harbor ill feelings against Charlotte.

The romance in this book was plenty, as Gideon and Gwen's feelings for each other were finally put out in the open, and there were a lot of really sweet moments that will satisfy everyone who has waited for the both of them to be together. There was also no shortage of laughter as Xemerius provided the needed comic relief with his sarcastic remarks and outrageous recaps of Gwen's life. Although I don't see much of a point for his character, he was like the sidekick that was just there to be funny, he's provided good support for Gwen. Also, Gwen has the best friend anyone could have. Lesley was such an interesting supporting character. She's that quirky, supportive BFF that isn't quick to judge, very good at research and has a good head for helping solve the mysteries surrounding the Count, the time travelers prophecy and sometimes, even Gwen's love problems.

Emerald Green was, admittedly, a long story. And while I sometimes stop and ask myself when will the story finally move forward, I was having fun being immersed in the story and seeing Gwen and Lesley and Gideon and Raphael putting their heads together, trying to solve this seemingly complex puzzle for all time travelers. The exciting, entertaining content definitely made up for the slow approach to the climax. And while I was busy swooning over Gwen and her love-hate relationship with Gideon, it was really enjoyable to go through all the layers of time traveling, history, secrets and truths that surround Gwen, her birth, her ability to time travel, the Guardians and the rest of the characters.

I can't say that the ending was unpredictable or something out of this world, but it's a neat finish for a trilogy that will leave the readers generally satisfied and happy, tying loose ends and wrapping up cliffhangers. There was no dramatic conclusion, but it was the type that retained the calmness and gave the story a clean closing. 

Here's to me hoping that Lesley and Raphael will have their own sort of spin-off soon. Their chemistry is up to the roof and it made me giggle a couple of times!

If you like books about time travel with a funny, clumsy heroine whose life is entangled hopelessly with her family and a prophecy that might or might not bring about a drastic change in the world, a French speaking hero who can be so infuriating most of the time but can be charming if he wants to, a funny demon sidekick who eats annoying ghosts and a one of a kind best friend who does not bat an eyelash in the face of all the craziness in Gwen's family, this book is for you. Highly entertaining though long and sometimes slow paced, Emerald Green and the Ruby Red trilogy is still a good series for those who want to give books and stories about time traveling a try.

Content (plot, story flow, character):

I'm not sure if it's just because of the translation to English from German, but a lot of things that are happening in Gwen's life that will take your focus away from some of the important events in the book. By the time Gwen's true powers and abilities were revealed, I didn't care about it much. Also, since a lot is going on in the story, you need to concentrate and look at it very closely so you wouldn't get lost in the developments. I had to re-read some parts in order for the whole thing to be clear.


Shining: Worthy of a Goddess' Love!

Book Cover:
This trilogy has one of the best covers I've seen, may it be hardback or paperback!

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Waiting on Wednesday (140): The Girl from the Well + I Become Shadow

Alright! I am featuring two books this week that I am REALLY, REALLY, REALLY excited about! Go on, read below!

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine

Title: The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
Release Date: August 5th 2014
Published by: Sourcebook Fire

Want? Add to your Goodreads list!

Summary (from Goodreads):

You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night.

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret - one that would just kill to get out.

Why I'm waiting for The Girl from the Well:

I have many many many reasons why I am terribly excited for this book that I am almost always jumping up and down whenever someone mentions this. One: I think Rin Chupeco is the first Filipina YA author I knew of who will be published worldwide. (Feel free to correct me on this!) Two: That summary just basically screams horror and gore and all the dark, delicious things that makes me anticipate it so! And three: Shinto exorcisms! Japan! If you look at my blog and even just think of the name, this book is a perfect fit. A YA paranormal, horror book with Japanese elements. YES, I WANT IT SO BAD!

Title: I Become Shadow by Joe Shine
Release Date: June 10th 2014
Published by: Soho Teen

Want? Add to your Goodreads list!

Summary (from Goodreads):

Ren Sharpe was abducted at fourteen and chosen by the mysterious F.A.T.E. Center to become a Shadow: the fearless and unstoppable guardian of a future leader. Everything she held dear—her family, her home, her former life—is gone forever.

Ren survives four years of training, torture, and misery, in large part thanks to Junie, a fellow F.A.T.E. abductee who started out as lost and confused as she did. She wouldn’t admit it was possible to find love in a prison beyond imagining, but what she feels for Junie may just be the closest thing to it.

At eighteen they part ways when Ren receives her assignment: find and protect college science student Gareth Young, or die trying. Life following a college nerd is uneventful, until an attack on Gareth forces Ren to track down the only person she can trust. When she and Junie discover that the F.A.T.E. itself might be behind the attacks, even certain knowledge of the future may not be enough to save their kidnappers from the killing machines they created.

Why I'm waiting for I Become Shadow:

Tell me that summary isn't interesting. It reminds me a little bit of Natasha Ngan's The Elites (in a sense that she's been trained to be a guardian) and I'm always ready for an action packed read with a strong female lead at the helm of the story. And what a gorgeous cover! You can just tell that it's going to be a fast paced thriller by the looks of the cover.

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What are your WoW picks this week? Share them please!

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[Feature] RED RISING – RELEASE DAY FLASH GIVEAWAY

I am so so excited to participate in this flash giveaway! Red Rising was amazing!

RED RISING by Pierce Brown
Published by Del Rey – Random House
Hardcover: 978-0-345-53978-6
Ebook: 978-0-345-53979-3

See what all the buzz is about on Goodreads

“Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow.”—Scott Sigler

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

BUY LINKS (print and ebook)
Amazon | B&N | iBookstore | Google Play | All other retailers

About Pierce Brown

Pierce Brown spent his childhood building forts and setting traps for cousins in the woods of six states and the deserts of two. Graduating from college in 2010, he fancied the idea of continuing his studies at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a magical bone in his body. So while trying to make it as a writer, he worked as a manager of social media at a startup tech company, toiled as a peon on the Disney lot at ABC Studios, did his time as an NBC page, and gave sleep deprivation a new meaning during his stint as an aide on a U.S. Senate campaign. Now he lives Los Angeles, where he scribbles tales of spaceships, wizards, ghouls, and most things old or bizarre.

Connect with Pierce
Facebook | Twitter

If anyone's interested, here's the playlist for RED RISING:

RED RISING RELEASE DAY FLASH GIVEAWAY!!!

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Goddess Offerings (36) / Stacking the Shelves (18)

Forgot to post my StS last week because it was a crazy weekend, but here's my haul, featuring Hello Kitty! :p Check it out!

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

For review:

Ask Me by Kimberly Pauley
Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington
No Surrender Soldier by Christine Kohler
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
Twice Upon a Time by Kate Forster

Shadow Kiss: The Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead
The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4) by Richelle Mead
Champion (Legend #3) by Marie Lu
Unhinged (Splintered #2) by A.G. Howard

From the NBS Trade Show:

Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas
Steadfast (Spellcaster #2) by Claudia Gray
Lighthouse Island: A Novel by Paulette Jiles
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (movie tie-in edition)
Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth

Won:

Signed Silence (Hush, Hush #3) by Becca Fitzpatrick
Golden Boy by Tara Sullivan

Bought:

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

For the signing:

If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Just One Year by Gayle Forman

Thank you Random House Philippines, National Bookstore, The 2K13ers and Christine Kohler, Hardie Grant Egmont and Penguin Australia!

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Review: The Trap (The Hunt #3) by Andrew Fukuda

If there's such a thing as  emotional carnage, where every single strand of my emotions were ripped apart and stomped on, then that's what I have just experienced while reading this book.

I feel so tired, it's like my emotions were a tangible thing that was tossed around and just disintegrated after I flipped to the last page.

Title: The Trap (The Hunt #3) by Andrew Fukuda
Release Date: November 5th 2013
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary:

After barely escaping the Mission alive, Gene and Sissy face an impossible task: staying alive long enough to stop an entire world bent on their destruction. Bound on a train heading into the unknown with the surviving Mission girls, Gene, Sissy, David, and Epap must stick together and use everything they have to protect each other and their only hope: the cure that will turn the blood-thirsty creatures around them into humans again. Now that they know how to reverse the virus, Gene and Sissy have one final chance to save those they love and create a better life for themselves. But as they struggle to get there, Gene's mission sets him on a crash course with Ashley June, his first love . . . and his deadliest enemy.

It was not easy reading this book, let me tell you that now. It was not easy getting through The Hunt and The Prey as well, but there's something really fascinating in the way this cruel, cruel world was presented through Andrew Fukuda's writing. By the time I was reading The Hunt, I felt the way Gene and Sissy did. I am tired. I wanted to give up. It's like the wariness, the deaths, the setbacks and countless heartbreaks suddenly weighed down on me. When will it end? Will it ever end? But you know what? I wouldn't trade the reading experience I had with this book with anything right now.

You think I'd have enough because of the dire situations and each and every seemingly hopeless moments that Gene and Sissy encounters in almost every page and chapter, but no, it was like some sort of drug that feeds my hunger to find out how it all ends.

In terms of the characters, I liked Sissy in this book better than Gene. I've always thought that she was fierce, stronger than anyone, maybe even Ashley June and Gene, but she just became that rock Gene needs to lean on to, to not give up. "We fight to the end.", she would always say, and every single time those words just bring tears to my eyes. At some level, I can understand Gene's feelings, and he was the person who was the most affected by everything that had happened, every single piece of the puzzle revealed, every challenge they face, but I felt his hopelessness more, like he really was at the end of his rope, and he was more unstable and emotional in this book than I would have liked.

I'd like to argue with what was said in the summary, that Gene's deadliest enemy is Ashley June herself. I don't think so. Gene's deadliest enemy was himself. The doubts that began to creep in, when he was starting to lose himself in the fear and the direness of it all. Who else does he have to fight with him? It was just him and Sissy and if they don't become a lot tougher than they were, how will they survive? Gene and Sissy were enough source of agony for me, that kind of bittersweet, doomed love and Ashley June just had to come in and present us flashbacks of what really happened to her, what it was like for her. She loved Gene, that I was sure of, and they were both connected by the grim events that transpired between their families, it's just that Ashley June chose to express that love in a way that Gene couldn't understand, not at first.

What happens when the Prey becomes the Hunter? I'm glad that amidst all that was going on in the story, Andrew Fukuda was able to show that side of the story, though briefly. It gave Gene's and Sissy's character a bit of an edge, a darker tinge to it.

I had to stop and pause for a little while when the truth surfaced. It felt like a bomb exploded and I had no idea how to deal with the aftermath. It was safe to say that those moments rearranged the whole story for me and gave me a whole new perspective to think about, and evaluate the story in a different angle, with a different approach. What a way to blindside people, Andrew Fukuda. By that moment I didn't care what else was there left for Gene and Sissy to discover, but when that twist finally came into light, I was speechless. I was so caught up trying to see if Gene and Sissy will survive for another minute, another hour, another day, that I didn't notice the possibility for something of that magnitude to happen was plausible. And as if it wasn't enough, Gene and Sissy had to face the reality of what lies ahead for them, what it means when they discovered who they are. What was normal for them after all that has happened? I felt so exhausted, but it turns out it wasn't the end.

I felt like my emotions were painfully wrung out of me by the time I got through the end. I can't say I'm happy, but I felt so proud by the time the story ended. I felt so proud of Gene and Sissy. They came out of it with a determination stronger and fiercer than before. They found a purpose. They were each other's hope. And that was good enough of an ending for me.

Stunned and stunning. Shocked and shocking. I couldn't ask for a better way for The Hunt series to end. The Trap couldn't have ended in a better way than it did. Kudos, Andrew Fukuda! What a ride, what a read! This series will forever stay with me as one of the most memorable series I have ever read.

My rating:

Content (plot, story flow, character):

I can't say enough praises and give enough accolades for this book. I have nothing but respect for Andrew Fukuda. The guy knows how to write dystopia, and he writes really well. Just give it a try, will you?

Stunning: Worthy of a Goddess' Praise!

Book Cover:
The Prey's cover is still my most favorite cover, but this one is also good!

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Chapter Reveal: BE WITH ME (Wait for You #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Who's excited for this book? Raise your hand! If you are, then you REALLY have to check out the chapter I'm posting below!

BE WITH ME Synopsis:

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Wait for You

Do Teresa and Jase have a real shot at getting together or will life get in the way?

Teresa Hamilton is having a rough year—she's in love with her big brother's best friend, but he hasn't spoken to her since they shared a truly amazing, mind-blowing, life-changing kiss. Then she got out of a terrible relationship. Now an injury is threatening to end her dance career for good. It's time for plan B: college. And maybe she'll have a chance to convince Jase that what they have together is real.

Jase Winstead has a huge secret that he's not telling anyone—especially not his best friend's incredibly beautiful sister. Even though he and Teresa shared the hottest kiss of his life, he knows that his responsibilities must take priority. He certainly doesn't have time for a relationship. But it doesn't help that all he can think about is kissing the one girl who could ruin everything for him.

As they're thrown together more and more, Jase and Teresa can't keep denying their feelings for each other. But a familiar danger looms and tragedy strikes. As the campus recovers, the star-crossed couple must decide what they're willing to risk to be together and what they're willing to lose if they're not. . . .

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY AT THE FOLLOWING LINKS:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

Be With Me Excerpt

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

# 1 NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY 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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