In Between ♥

Friday, February 14, 2014

Friday Reads [:

Friday, August 23, 2013

Video Review - The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey

Monday, August 19, 2013

Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters Teaser Trailer

Ok so, you guys probably already saw this one, but I CAN'T. STOP. WATCHING IT!

Which is kind of funny, considering I didn't even finish reading the series (not because I didn't like it, I just couldn't really get into it, but they were still kinda cool). And now, due to this trailer I want to give the whole series another try because there's so much I don't remember. Cannot wait for this movie! it looks very well done :)

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Starglass - Phoebe North + GIVEAWAY!

Starglass by Phoebe North
Date Released: July 23rd 2013
Publisher:Simon & Schuster
Format: ARC
Source: Itching for Books Blog Tours

Summary:
In this futuristic, outer space thriller, Terra has to decide between supporting the rebellion she believes in—and saving the life of the boy she loves.

For generations, those aboard the Asherah have lived within strict rules meant to help them survive the journey from a doomed Earth to their promised land, the planet Zehava–which may or may not be habitable, a question whose imperative grows now, in the dwindling months before touchdown.
Sixteen-year-old Terra’s situation is tough. A dead mom. A grieving dad. A bitchy boss, and a betrothed who won’t kiss her no matter how bad she wants it. She’s doing her best to stay afloat, even when she gets assigned a vocation she has no interest in: botany.

But after Terra witnesses the Captain's guard murder an innocent man, she's drawn into a secret rebellion bent on restoring power to the people. The stakes are higher than anything she could have imagined. When the rebellion gives Terra an all-important mission, she has to decide where her loyalties lie for once and for all. Because she has started to fall for the boy she's been sent to assassinate...

From Goodreads

My Review:

When I first started with Starglass I thought, Good story, good characters, but nothing I hadn’t heard before. Once you think of it, almost every sci-fi novel and movie with people stuck in a big spaceship go the same way: they feel stuck, that they are being controlled and that they want their freedom. When I finished with Starglass, I thought again of my initial opinion and came to the conclusion that yes, Starglass was different from other Sci-Fi novels out there; what made it unique was the brilliant world building and character development. Good job on that Miss North, a really good job

Starglass was very well structured, you get a full understanding of the world, the norms, how everything works inside the Asherah and who are the people that live on board. It took quite a while for the conflict of the story to appear, over 100 pages, which makes it seem like a slow book, I mean, 100 pages of world building? Come on. But it was done tastefully and well, and they went very fast, it wasn’t until I actually looked at the page counter that I thought ‘wow, that was a lot of pages before the main event.’ The main event being when Terra watches someone innocent (and likable) be murdered. Don’t freak out people, it’s not a spoiler, it’s in the summary.

Now Terra, Terra was a very interesting character. She’s quiet, plain and average – I realize this are not the best adjectives to describe a person, but she was still so interesting. Not your typical timid, social awkward girl, Terra was actually an underdog/wallflower. (She sees things, and she understand them…. Yeah yeah, that was from Perks of Being a Wallflower, but it works to describe her) She saw a murder and was later told to stay silent about it, not knowing whom she should trust or if there was anyone to trust she keep quiet, and just goes on being a silent observer, slowly learning, slowly becoming and adult and a part of the community, but never really engaging. Until she finally finds something, a group of people where she does belong, and she becomes passionate. Now this, THIS is what made the book so great for me, you see Terra’s father being a very compromised and dedicated worker, you see her best friend being a very active and girly teenage girl, you see her peers being exited about their jobs, her brother being happy about his rank, and you see Terra as a sharp contrast to all of them, yes, she understands, she works, she likes it, but she’s sort of just there in a big ship through the first half of the book, until she finally finds where she belongs. I simply loved the inside of Terra’s head.

Now the love interest. . . it was weird. Not what you would expect. We have two main boys – not a love triangle, don’t worry – and Terra clicks with one of them, and he’s sweet and he’s good, but it feels weird. It was just. . . weird. Definitely not your common romance set-up, I guess I grew too accustomed to the typical cliché YA romances, to the point were it actually made this one feel weird for me, but it’s not really weird, it’s just done in a different way . It was sweet, but still different. . . I liked it.

Again, I would not say Starglass was original, but the approach the author took was unique and well done, which made it totally worth it. Excellent, excellent world building and character development. I highly recommend it as a summer read, and make sure to keep this in mind: Not everything is as it seems.

About The Author:

Phoebe North spent the first twenty-two years of her life in New Jersey, where she lugged countless library books home to read in the bathtub, at the dinner table, in front of the television, and under the blankets with a flashlight when she should have been asleep. After college, Phoebe went south, enrolling in the University of Florida’s MFA program to study poetry. But after studying children’s literature with kidlit scholars (and geniuses) Kenneth Kidd and John Cech, she started writing books about magic, robots and aliens for teenagers. And realized she loved it almost as much as she loved Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Now, Phoebe lives in New York State with her husband, and many licensed novels. She likes to cook, watch Degrassi, sew, take her cat for walks, and, of course, write. Despite many soaked pages, she still loves to read in the bath

www.phoebenorth.com | twitter.com/phoebenorth

Starglass Book Trailer from Phoebe North on Vimeo.

GIVEAWAY!

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Monday, July 15, 2013

Random Acts of Crazy by Julia Kent - Excerpt + GIVEAWAY!

Random Acts of Crazy by Julia Kent
Date Released: May 21st 2013
Publisher: Createspace
Format: Kindle Book
Date Read: July 7, 2013.
Source: Itching for Books Tours

Summary:

I never intended to pick up a naked hitchhiker wearing nothing but a guitar. A guitar. Really. I don't collect guys like that (don't ask what kind of guys I do collect), but when you spot a blonde, tanned, sculpted man with a gorgeous smile and his thumb poking up and practically begging you to stop - you stop. And I definitely never thought I'd be staring into the bright blue eyes of Trevor Connor, the lead singer for Random Acts of Crazy, an indie rock star I followed like the slobbering fileshare fangirl I am. How he came to be nude and lost six hundred miles from home is quite the tale, but how we fell in love is even more unreal. Because someone like Trevor Connor, headed to Harvard Law next year, isn't supposed to want someone like me, a rural Ohio chick majoring in Boredom at Convenience Store University who is all curves and frizzy blonde hair and manners so unpolished they have sharp edges that make you bleed. But he did. When his best friend, Joe Ross, the bass player for Random Acts of Crazy and a man who makes Calvin Klein models look like Shrek, drove eleven hours through the night to rescue him, though, it got real complicated. It's one thing to like two different guys and be torn. What do you do, though, when maybe - just maybe - you don't have to choose? As my Aunt Josie says sometimes, "It's always complicated."

* Random Acts of Crazy is a standalone, full-length novel featuring Darla Jo(sephine) Jennings, the 22-year-old niece of Josie Mendham from the Her Two Billionaires series. It has, like many New Adult novels, an exploration of sexuality for the three main characters, doesn't shy away from mature content, and Darla has a sailor's mouth.

From Goodreads

Hey guys! Today I present to you and Excerpt of Random Acts of Crazy which I picked, and I personally really liked this part, so I hope you do too :D!

Excerpt

As Joe walked out, I realized this was the moment. I had to steel myself for it, I had to be strong, I had to make sure I didn’t make a fool of myself so I did what I always do and I opened my mouth and I blurted out the stupidest shit possible.

“I would love to see you again, Trevor,” I said. “The next time you decide to eat a stupid shit amount of a mind-altering substance and travel naked six hundred miles, give me a visit.” Wink. Oh, God. I might as well have said “Y’all come back now, ya hear?” and thrown cornbread at him.

He smiled gently, his fingers touching my cheekbones, traveling down to the nape of my neck, making me want to blurt out even stupider words, like I love you, like stay, like make babies with me, like take me with you, like write a song about me – and I was damn close to saying all of those things but he just leaned in and shut my mouth up by pressing his against it.

The kiss wasn’t a goodbye kiss. It was more chaste than anything we’d shared over the past handful of hours and that’s what finally made me cry because it was less about passion – which we’d had plenty of in handfuls and spurts (no pun intended) – but this was a kiss of sorrow, a kiss of regret, a kiss so sweet and endearing and apologetic and nostalgic that I could feel it ten years ago and ten years hence.

What was Trevor doing, giving me a kiss like that? Bearing his soul to me with his lips, with his tongue, with fingertips that touched all the crying parts in me, all the aching cells, the mourning skin, the sad, sad heart that beat just for him right now. Everything I felt was so melodramatic and gratuitous and carved out of a Darla that I liked to pretend wasn’t there. Trevor made me real. Trevor made me come out. The me that I always imagined was there, undamaged, untouched by the years of wondering what if? What if Daddy hadn’t died? What if Mama had been OK? What if I’d gone to college? My own what if – thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster – would never be what if I had just driven past the naked rock star by the side of the road?

I may be stupid and I may make foolish choices but that one…that one I would never regret.

Trevor’s mouth pulled away and his eyes sought mine. “It’ll be OK,” he said. “And of all the people in the world and of all the places in the world, Darla,” he leaned over and kissed my forehead and pulled back, that jaunty, sultry grin like warm chocolate. “The next time I decide to escape my own life, naked and ready for anything, I’ll make sure I’m headed west.”

Joe ruined what would have been an absolutely perfect Hallmark moment – if Hallmark had a demented line of cards for shitstorms like this – by thumping through the door and shouting, “My fucking car won’t start!”

Purchase

Amazon | Goodreads

About the Author

Julia Kent turned to writing romance novels after learning that she could not work as a fighter pilot because her fear of flying disqualified her. Turning to her second love, she became a dog groomer, but had to abandon that job after adopting too many strays. Writing about very real, very flawed people is a natural extension of her life and, well, her. She lives on the east coast with her partner, two small children, seventeen dogs that weigh less than fifteen pounds each, and a monthly consumption of Nutella, brie and french bread that makes cardiologists cringe.

jkentauthor.blogspot.com | @jkentauthor | facebook.com/julia.kent.100