Waiting on Wednesday 10/19/2011

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at breaking the spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:
The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
#4 in the Iron Fey Series
Publication Date 10/25/2011

 Goodreads Review

My name—my True Name—is Ashallayn'darkmyr Tallyn.
I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court. And I am dead to her.
My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…

Friday Face Off (on Wednesday) Cover Reveal: The Fault in Our Stars

So yes, I know it is Wednesday and I know Friday Face Off (hosted by Misty at The Book Rat) is supposed to be on Friday, but this is breaking news that cannot wait.  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green has a cover!  Here it is: 

I like it, but I have to admit I'm not in love with it.  I do like the simplistic nature of it and maybe once I read the book I'll like the cover more. That certainly was the case for Paper Towns so I'll keep an open mind.

I do have one massive problem with the cover though.  Why the HELL is Jodi Picoult quoted on the cover!?  First of all, Jodi Picoult is a lame-o lifetime movie-esque adult author, not a funny-as-hell-while-still-being-extremely-poignant YA author.  Second of all, just because Jodi Picoult wrote a shitty book about a teen with cancer that got turned into a fairly successful movie, she's the go-to default author on the subject?  I'm sorry but if The Fault in Our Stars is even one tenth similar to My Sister's Keeper I may just have to punch a baby.  (oh and for the record, the movie of My Sister's Keeper is totally different from the book and has much more believable characters and a way more logical ending...go movie people you got it right).  I'm really disappointed by this blurb and I hope this isn't final and the publishers will wise up and put someone else on the cover (or no one, that's ok by me) but I doubt it.

Top Ten Tuesday 10/18/2011: Top Ten Books Whose Titles or Covers Made Me Buy It

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.  This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish.  We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new top ten list complete with one of our bloggers' answers.  Everyone is welcome to join.  All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating.  If you don't have a blog, just post your answers in the comments.

TOP TEN BOOKS WHOSE TITLES OR COVERS MADE ME BUY IT

1.  The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan - This book is because of the title.  What a perfect zombie book title!  It's chilling and violent and awesome.  Too bad the book didn't do as much for me as the title did.

2.  Wither by Lauren DeStefano - This book I knew nothing about other than the fact that the cover was amazing.  It's so, in the words of Tyra, FIERCE!  Again too bad the story inside of it doesn't live up to the awesomeness that is this gorgeous cover.

3.  Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater - I haven't read The Wolves of Mercy Falls yet, but if the cover is indicative of the story within (and I have a feeling I'm going to like these books because I loved The Scorpio Races) it's going to be beautifully written.  These covers are so intriguing and unique, they really drew me to these books, even before I really got into YA.

4.  Possess by Gretchen McNeil - This cover is lovely and creepy at the same time.  I love how the girl looks a little Asian like Bridget (she's half Asian, half Caucasian).  I also love how the trees also kind of look like creepy veins.  In real life the cover has a really pretty shine that makes it extra pretty.

5.  The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - I love how on the hard cover the title seems to disappear depending on how the light hits the cover.  I'm usually not a fan of headless people on book covers, but I think because of the fact that they're underwater it's ok.  I also really like the position of the man in this photo.  Is he helping her out of the water?  Or is he dragging her under?

6.  From Bad To Cursed by Katie Alender - I LOVE THIS COVER.  You can't really tell in the picture but the expression on this girls face is so creepy.  She looks straight evil.  I actually bought this book then realized it's the second book in a series lol.  Yeah the cover was that awesome for me.

7.  Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs - This book is a modern interpretation of the Medusa legend, and WOW was a perfect cover!  I love how her braid mimics a snake without actually turning into a snake (unlike some other book covers that take the whole modern Medusa thing a little too far).  I also love how you can see her bones at the back of her neck.  I don't know why, but I feel like they add to the other-worldly-ness of the book.  

8.  Firelight by Sophie Jordan - I have red hair, so I always love seeing fellow red heads on the covers of books.  I especially love what they did with this cover model, giving her golden scales and human-reptile hybrid eyes.  I think the red and gold coloring really lends to the title too, being fiery colors and whatnot.  

9.  Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev - I really like the almost anime quality of this cover.  I really like how it combines the fantasy elements of the book with the theater aspects.  Really the entire series has beautiful covers, but I really don't know what these books are about.  At all.  I just know the covers are lovely.

10.  Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - While I disagree with the title matching the cover (the cover of Pretties should be called Uglies, IMO) I think this cover is SO pretty.  I'm not a huge fan of the cover re-designs either.  I like the smaller version of these books and the face covers.  They're more unique and interesting in the original format.

Teaser Tuesday 10/18/2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• Share the title & author so others can add the book to their TBR list

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

I walk the rest of the distance to the couch and collapse on it.  Scarlett and Silas crowd around.  "Right.  Well, I was...um..." I sigh and look at Scarlett. My head has finally stopped spinning, and I suddenly realize that I'm going to have to explain the dance class.  "I was at this tango lesson," I say quickly, "And there was a Fenris --"

"Wait -- at a what?" Scarlett asks.

Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison

 Published October 11, 2011 by EgmontUSA
egalley for review from netgalley
1 star

Goodreads Review
A modern retelling of the German fairy tale "Tristan and Isolde," Tris and Izzie is about a young witch named Izzie who is dating Mark King, the captain of the basketball team and thinks her life is going swimmingly well. Until -- she makes a love potion for her best friend Brangane and then ends up taking it herself accidentally, and falling in love with Tristan, the new guy at school.

Review:  Tris & Izzie is a first on a few different levels for me.  It's the first book I've ever read on my new Kindle, the first book I've ever received for review from netgalley, and my first ever one star review on this blog.  It's very rare for me to give out a less than two star rating, but there is nothing remotely redeeming about this book.  I'll try and hold in my negativity, but there's gonna be some snark and sarcasm.  Even I'm not that good.  (oh and p.s. this review may get spoilery, so if you really care (but why would you) you have been warned.)

First let's talk about the few things I did like about this book.  The cover is beautiful and it's what drew me to the book in the first place.  Not like I could see the pretty cover on my Kindle, but I could imagine it.  Ok, the other things I liked about this book are.....um....well there was....I liked the part where.....did I mention the pretty cover?

Let's talk about the characters.  Every single character in this book has bi-polar disorder.  One minute they're professing their undying love for each other and then not even ten pages later they're punching each other in the face.  No seriously, a boy punched his girlfriend in the face.  And she was cool with it.  I'm sorry but if my boyfriend punched me in the face I wouldn't be ok with it, I would be lying on the ground sobbing in a pool of my own nose blood.  Izzie is probably the worst.  She decides that her BFF Branna is too depressed and mopey and the best way to fix it is to give her an irreversible love potion with a guy they met literally TEN MINUTES AGO.  AND this was after Branna said she didn't want a love potion, that she wanted her love to be real.  Wow, some friend no?  And then when Mark (Izzie's "perfect" boyfriend (he's the one that punched her in the face)) almost drinks the love potion instead of Branna what does Izzie do?  Drinks it instead.  She doesn't, oh I don't know, pour it ON THE GROUND!?  No she has to drink it and then she acts all pissed off about being in love with a boy that's not her boyfriend.  Hum, maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to trick your best friend? 

These characters play musical chairs with their relationships.  They swap partners faster than the cast of Jersey Shore, I'm not exaggerating.  Mark goes from being in love with Izzie to Branna in literally five minutes.  Izzie goes from loving Mark to thinking that she never really loved him and that he and Branna are a much better match, even though earlier in the book she was super pissed that Branna had a crush on her boyfriend.  Tristan is just an idiot.

AND THEN there's the "magic" in this book.  It makes no sense other than to provide a greater enemy than this weird-o love square.  It's poorly supported and even more poorly executed.  The enemies and fight sequences are frankly, lame.  The ending made me want to gag it was so happily ever after.  I wish it had been like the real Tristan and Isolde and everyone had just died. 

Sigh.  Ok, end rant.  As a side note, if the author/publisher/editor/anyone involved with this book ever reads this, I don't mean to be a douche.  Promise.  But I just really disliked this book (ok loathed may be a more appropriate word), and I'm not going to try and sugar coat it.  Hope you're ok with that.

Off the Shelf #10

  Hello everyone and welcome to Off the Shelf!  This is my way of sharing any new books I receive or buy as well as let you all know what my reading plans are for the week and what I hope to get off my TBR shelf.

This week was Amanda has ADD week haha.  I think I've started a hundred different books and only finished one.  Do you guys ever have that kind of a week?  Where you want to read ALL THE BOOKS NOW!  That's how I was this week, so I have a bunch to finish before Dewey's Read-a-Thon this Saturday.

Finished Reading:

Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot

Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison

Currently Reading:

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Up Next:  Actually I have no idea.  Whatever I feel like reading for the read-a-thon which I haven't decided on yet.  Stay tuned for read-a-thon updates to find out what I'll read next!

Friday Face Off Cover Reveal: Girl of Nightmares

Friday Face Off is a meme hosted by one of my favorite book bloggers Misty over at The Book Rat.  Usually this meme focuses on different cover designs for the same book and decides which is better for the story.  I wanted to take this meme and add a little twist to it today by discussing a cover reveal!

I recently read Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake and fell in love with the story.  It's a great scary ghosty mystery book with a lot of gruesome deaths and  freaky ass dead bodies.  The cover for the book is perfect for the overall tone of the book.  The black and white lends to the mystery of the book and the house in the background is exactly what I imagined Anna's house to be like.  I also love the red at the bottom of her dress and on her legs.  It's a very clever design.

Recently the cover for the second book, Girl of Nightmares, was released.  For the people who have read Anna and know how that book ended, I think this cover is perfect.  It fits the tone of the end of Anna very well and also shows how Anna has grown as a character.  I love that her hair has a similar shape but this time she's turned out, facing the reader.  I also love her posture and how her hand is giving a"follow me" gesture.  Also, do you see those freaky red people grabbing for her legs?  Holy shit that's creepy.

For everyone that's read Anna, did you have a particular image of her in your mind?  I am an avid video game player and as I was reading this book I kept imagining Alice's hysteria mode from American McGee's Alice: Madness Returns.  What do you think?

Yeah, I think that's about right.