www.onebooktime.blogspot.com

www.onebooktime.blogspot.com

So, please come take a look, start following, and if you already do please update your urls!  I thank you for sticking with me for the past 9 months and hope you will for more!

Title: Jonas (Beautiful Dead)
Author: Eden Maguire
Published: republished March 1, 2010
Pages: 288
ISBN: 9781402239441
Source: ARC provided by Sourcebooks Fire

Description: Something strange is happening in Ellerton High. Phoenix is the fourth teenager to die within a year. His street fight stabbing follows the deaths of Jonas, Summer and Arizona in equally strange and sudden circumstances. Rumours of ghosts and strange happenings rip through the small community as it comes to terms with shock and loss.   Darina, Phoenix’s grief-stricken girlfriend, is on the verge. She can’t escape her intense heartache, or the impossible apparitions of those that are meant to be dead. And all the while the sound of beating wings echo inside her head…   And then one day Phoenix appears to Darina. He tells her that she must help Jonas - the first of the four to die – right the wrong linked with his death. Only with her help can Jonas finally rest in peace. Will love conquer death? And if it does, can Darina set it free?

I Give This Book 3.5 Stars!

I really wanted to like this book, and for the most part I did.  It was a fast and easy read.  Darina seemed a bit extreme to me at first (maybe I’m growing tired of the love-struck teenager role?).  But, she quickly grew on me.  She has a lot of backbone for a teenager.  I was impressed with the was she handled herself in a lot of the situations.  She also seemed genuinely concerned for a friend.  She knew that helping Jonas would also be helping her (her name escapes me at the moment).  I was not impressed with her parents, but I could see that being normal with a step-parent (another running theme is teen fiction).  The 4 dead teens and their “group” also make for interesting characters.  They added humor and definitely some suspense and terror to the story.  Although I wonder how they expected to right the wrongs associated with their deaths without Darina.  It’s almost like they knew she would come help them.  I loved the idea of the angel wing tattoos marking them according to how they died.  It was an interesting idea to the story.
Now, there were a couple things that bring this book down for me.  First, the use of the word zombie.  When I think of zombie, I think of the living dead.  That’s not what these people are.  They are more like ghosts with actual bodies.  Second, I really disliked the ending for some reason.  I was not surprised with the circumstances surrounding Jonas’ death.  But, I thought he could have been vindicated differently.  I understood the feelings behind the extreme actions that brought about the ending.  It just left me with a bad taste in my mouth.  It felt over the top.  Last, but really not important, I wish the book was a little longer.  I felt like all the action took place way to fast.

As part of the Beautiful Dead blog tour, here are links to other reviews by fellow bloggers! 

And if you are interested in reading the first chapter

Title: Inkspell
Author: Cornelia Funke
Published: October 2005
Pages: 635
ISBN: 9780439554008
Source: Library

Description: Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of Inkheart, the book whose characters came to life – and changed her life forever.

But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater brought into being from words, the need to return to the original tale has become desperate. When he finds a crooked storyteller with the magical ability to read him back, Dustfinger leaves behind his young apprentice Farid and plunges into the medieval inkscape once more.   Distraught, Farid goes in search of Meggie, and before long both are caught inside the book, too. There they meet Inkheart‘s author, Fenoglio, now living within his own story. But the tale is much changed, and threatening to evolve in ways none of them would have ever imagined. Will Meggie, Farid, and Fenoglio manage to write the wrongs of a charmed world? Or is their story on the brink of a very bad ending?

I Give This Book 4 Stars!

I have to admit that I didn’t jump out and read this because I didn’t think Inkheart was all that great.  But, I wanted to know how the story ended.  So, I finally picked this one up.  I’m very glad that I did.  The story was much richer than the first book.   It was written better with the characters coming to life more.  Maybe it’s because we finally get a look at the world that everybody was willing to go to such lengths for.  It’s almost like the author was able to write about a fantasy world better than the real one.  I found the danger more real and the bad guys gave off more of that evil persona.  I was just overall more impressed with this one.   Believe me, I will be picking up the last in the series soon!

Title: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary
Author: Brandon Mull
Published: March 2009
Pages: 535
ISBN: 9781606410424
Source: Library book

Description: Brace yourself for a shocking secret. Two hidden artifacts have been found. Three more remain unrecovered. More preserves face destruction as the Society of the Evening Star relentlessly pursues new talismans. Reading in Patton’s Journal of Secrets, Kendra learns the location of the key to a vault housing one of the artifacts. In order to retrieve it, the Knights of the Dawn must enter a death trap a dragon sanctuary called Wyrmroost. The mission cannot proceed without stealing a sacred object zealously guarded by the centaurs. Anybody seen Seth? The race is on to acquire all five of the artifact keys to the great demon prison. Will the Knights of the Dawn conquer Wyrmroost? Who can stop the Sphinx? Can Vanessa be trusted to help? What artifact will be found next? Find out in Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary.

I Give This Book 4 Stars!

I gave it 4 stars but I’m tempted to give it more… it’s only real draw back is that it’s long.  Which doesn’t have to be a bad thing, it just doesn’t have the race until the end, need to read it feel.  But, besides that, I love this series.  What I do find odd is that I love the mythical creatures in this series more than I love the characters.  The characters are well executed though, and have plenty of appeal.  But, for some reason, I just love the fantasy.  The author has created this tightly woven world of mythical races.  Everything has an explanation that fits in with each race.  And, while those little details may seem like they dont’ matter, it’s what makes the story real.  The author has created a completely functioning different world within our own.  And, just when it seems like we’ve reached an ending point of new characters, the author adds a new one.  It’s never overwhelming though.  I always want more.   I have really enjoyed watching Seth and Kendra evolve with the powers they have been granted by very different races withing their grandparents preserve.  And it will be interesting to see how they work together to use them.   I can’t wait to read the next (and what I think will be the last) in this series!

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:
     And then, of course, Brigan appeared in the doorway to say hello to his mother and to bring Fire back to her horse, and immediately Fire felt herself revert to a child.  Some part of her brain went missing whenever this soldier came near.  It froze from his coldness.

~ Fire by Kristin Cashore

It wasn’t my intent to have this many books this week! 

For Review:

• Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt
• Read, Remember, Recommend for Teens (A Reading Journal for Teens) by Rachel Rogers Knight

Bought/Borrowed/Traded:

• The Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan
• The Everafter by Amy Huntley
• Why I Let My Hair Grow Out by Maryrose Wood

From The Library:

• Fire by Kristin Cashore 
• The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
• Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
• Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

Title: Numbers
Author: Rachel Ward
Published: Feb 2010
Pages: 325
ISBN: 9780545142991
Source: Won from Goodreads First Look

Description: Whenever Jem meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die.
Burdened with such an awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. But while they’re waiting to ride the Eye Ferris wheel, Jem notices that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today’s number. Today’s date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem’s world is about to explode!

I Give This Book 3.5 Stars!

The description above is the most common one found for this book.  And, I have to point out that it’s extremely misleading.  I  prefer the description that are usually included with this on sites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.   The fact that Jem sees the date of when someone will die is more like a side story in this book.  It leads to the events that actually take place.  I’m hoping that not to many people are disappointed when the story isn’t what they expect.  Because the actual story is really pretty good.  Jem is a complete fireball of a lead character.   She’s sarcastic, witty, and fun.   I completely understand why she shies away from relationships.  I wasn’t sure what I thought of Spider at first.  But, he grew on me by the end of the book.  I could see why Jem found the connection she did with him.  The events that occur after the incident at the ferris wheel are intense and they leave you in a whirlwind of emotions.   I was completely shocked by the ending.  The only thing that really bothered me was the constant talk of the characters being victims of their circumstances.  The story made it seem that because they came from poor backgrounds, they wouldn’t amount to anything more.