Waiting on Wednesday [26]: The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming books we are looking forward to being released.

My pick for this week is:

Title: The Love That Split the World
Author: Emily Henry
Expected pub. date: January 26th, 2016
Genre: YA Sci-Fi / Time travel

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves. Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start... until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

Why am I waiting for this book?  This one is another really promising debut novel. I think the premise sounds pretty cool. I've been wanting to get into time travel novels a bit more and this one sounds perfect for me to do just that. It makes me think of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater for some reason and I really like that series but I have never found anything similar, so maybe this is it! I'm intrigued to see how this one turns out, so fingers crossed!

What do you think of my pick for this week WOW? 

Leave me a comment and link me to your WOW. I love reading about upcoming releases and it's just a great way to find new books :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Love,

Top Ten Tuesday [23]: Top Ten Favorite Quotes of 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish.

This week is one of my favorite Top Ten topics! I absolutely love quotes and I love highlighting them or marking them on my books. So, today I'm listing some of my favorite quotes of book I've read this year. There are some really deep ones, some that I just thought were funny, the ones that for some reason resonated with me and some of them were just too epic to pass out. Here we go!

#1

"The thing is, being lonely is like walking in the cold without a coat. It’s uncomfortable, but eventually you go numb. Once you get used to not being lonely, though, the shock of going back is like having your down comforter yanked off at six o’clock on a Minnesota December morning".

From: The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall

#2

"I don’t understand people. They smile when they are mad. They hug people they hate. They steal from people they genuinely love. And they are jealous of babies"

From: Brighter Than the Sun by Darynda Jones

#3

"Behind them, across the hall, the dancers shattered their roses on the floor, and Aedion grinned at his queen as the entire world went to hell" 

From: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas 

#4

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's this: We all want everything to be okay. We don't even wish so much for fantastic or marvelous or outstanding. We will happily settle for okay, because most of the time, okay is enough.”

From: Every Day by David Levithan 

#5

'Are you in a suit?' I managed at last, my voice choking up. 'You didn’t have to dress up for me.'

'Quiet, Sage,' he said. 'I’ll make the hilarious one-liners during this daring rescue.” 

From: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead

#6

"The thing is...what they don’t tell you about forgiveness is this—you don’t give it for the other person’s sake, but your own." 

From: In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken 

#7

"I didn't know someone could love me like this," she said. "Could love me and love me and love me without...needing space." Lincoln wasn't asleep. He rolled on top of her.

"There's no air in space," he said.

From: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

#8

"Just for the record, saying 'The surprise hasn't started yet' while pulling something out of your pants is super creepy."

From: Velvet by Temple West

#9

"I'm not a sucker for happily ever afters, but if these two characters don't get theirs I might climb inside this e-reader and lock them both inside that damn garage forever."

From: Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

#10

"In new situations, all the trickiest rules are the ones nobody bothers to explain to you. (And the ones you can't Google.)"

From: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Honorary mentions

"Pity those who don't feel anything at all."

From:  A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 

"The thing I realize is, that it's not what you take, it's what you leave." 

From: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven 

"Besides the alternate universe offered by a book, the quiet space of a museum was my favorite place to go. My mom said I was an escapist at heart . . . that I preferred imaginary worlds to the real one. It’s true that I’ve always been able to yank myself out of this world and plunge myself into another." 

From: Die for Me by Amy Plum 

What's on your Top Ten this week? What's your favorite quote on my list? What quotes made it to your list? Let me know in the comment section below!

Love,

[Review] Velvet Undercover by Teri Brown

Title: Velvet Undercover

Author: Teri Brown

Genre: Young Adult Historical Thriller

Published: October 20th, 2015

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Format: Kindle Edition, 336 pages

Samantha Donaldson’s family has always done its duty for the British Crown. In the midst of World War I, seventeen-year-old Sam follows in their footsteps, serving her country from the homefront as a Girl Guide and messenger for the intelligence organization MI5. After her father disappears on a diplomatic mission, she continues their studies of languages, high-level mathematics, and complex puzzles and codes, hoping to make him proud.When Sam is asked to join the famed women’s spy group La Dame Blanche she’s torn—this could be the adventure she’s dreamed of, but how can she abandon her mother, who has already lost a husband to the war? But when her handlers reveal shocking news, Sam realizes there’s no way she can refuse the exciting and dangerous opportunity.Her acceptance leads her straight into the heart of enemy territory on a mission to extract the most valuable British spy embedded in Germany, known to the members of LDB only as Velvet. Deep undercover within the court of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Samantha must navigate the labyrinthine palace and its many glamorous—and secretive—residents to complete her assignment. To make matters worse she finds herself forming a forbidden attraction to the enemy-a dangerously handsome German guard. In a place where personal politics are treacherously entangled in wartime policy, can Samantha discover the truth and find Velvet before it’s too late…for them both?From author Teri Brown comes the thrilling story of one girl’s journey into a deadly world of spycraft and betrayal—with unforgettable consequences.

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Review

My thoughts:

This book kind of blew me away to be completely honest. I've never read anything like it. I didn't even expect to enjoy it as much as I did because I generally don't like historical fiction, but this was pretty amazing!

I loved the historical setting for a change... It was really atmospheric and mesmerizing. I enjoyed the plot too and I have to say I didn't see the many twists at the end coming.

Samantha has recently graduated with honors from a special and selective group that educates young women. She has a special talent with languages and codes so she's been approached by a governmental organization, the MI6 trying to recruit her for a dangerous mission as a war spy for England, as a part of the LDB, a group of female spies that work mostly as undercover agents.

Sam's father has been missing for a while and is presumed dead by the government, but she is not satisfied with that answer, so she accepts joining the LDB in exchange for information of her father whereabouts.

Miss Tickford is appointed as Sam's handler and she's the one who'll provide her training and first assignment. Sam has to go undercover as a governess and immerse herself in the German royal family no less. Her mission is to find another undercover agent whose code name is Velvet.

But the mission seems to get more and more difficult as the time goes by and Sam starts to doubt herself at every turn. She will have to choose very carefully who she trusts and will have to keep all her wits about her if she's going to make it out alive.

The whole premise is fascinating. I have only basic knowledge about World War I, so I didn't know much about MI6 and the whole espionage going on, so I don't know if what's going on in this story is historically accurate, but I enjoyed it immensely. There's so much at stake for the protagonist and every tiny bit of information she receives changes everything in her plans, which is definitely a great way to keep a reader on the edge of her seat, thank you very much...

I kept waiting for that dull moment that would make me put the book down and then never return to it again, as it happens often when I pick up historical fiction, but the truth is I couldn't let go of the goddamn book.

The characters the protagonist meets are really interesting and most of them really mysterious too which makes you doubt everyone. I kept yelling at the book like "That's gotta be Velvet!" every time a new character popped up. 

Overall, I think this was a great book and I would love to read more about what happened after everything went down. It has an epilogue and you more or less know what happened at the end so don't get me wrong, you get resolution, but still, the world and characters were so fascinating that I wouldn't mind reading a sequel. I'm glad I gave it a chance!

Rating:

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About the author

Well behaved women rarely make history. Teri Brown lived that quote way before she ever even heard it. The two things she is most proud of, (besides her children), is that she jumped out of an airplane once and she beat the original Legend of Zelda video game. She is a novel writer, head banger, pet keeper, math hater, cocktail drinker, booty shaker, book reader, city slicker, food fixer, French kisser, rule breaker, wine sipper and word scribbler. She loves her husband, kitties and chocolate.

[Review] Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones

Title: Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet

Author: Darynda Jones

Series: Charley Davidson #4

Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

Published: October 30th, 2012

Publisher: Piatkus

Format: Paperback, 308 pages

Welcome to the world of grim reaper extraordinaire Charley Davidson. Try as she might, there’s no avoiding her destiny.Sometimes being the grim reaper really is, well, grim. And since Charley’s last case went so awry, she has taken a couple of months off to wallow in the wonders of self-pity. But when a woman shows up on her doorstep convinced someone is trying to kill her, Charley has to force herself to rise above...or at least get dressed. It becomes clear something is amiss when everyone the woman knows swears she’s insane. But the more they refute the woman’s story, the more Charley believes it.
In the meantime, the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, is out of prison and out of Charley’s life, as per her wishes and several perfectly timed death threats. But his absence has put a serious crimp in her sex life. While there are other things to consider, like the fact that the city of Albuquerque has been taken hostage by an arsonist, Charley is having a difficult time staying away. Especially when it looks like Reyes may be involved.
Just when life was returning to normal, Charley is thrust back into the world of crime, punishment, and the devil in blue jeans in this hilarious fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling series.

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Review

My thoughts:

I can’t even with this series… Darynda Jones freaking read my mind, I could swear it! Just when I finished the third book, I was saying: “It’s kind of suspicious that after going through so much, Charley’s mind is still in one piece. If I were her I wouldn’t step out of my house again, not even for a million dollars”. And it would be kind of annoying and unrealistic of her to just get back on her feet and keep going as if nothing had happened… So, she doesn’t.

In this installment, Charley is kind of depressed, suffering from PTS after Earl’s attack. She won’t go out of her house and has been hoarding boxes of mostly useless things she’s been impulsively buying. She’s almost broke and hasn’t taken on a case for two months.

Her family and friends planned an intervention and try to get her out of the house, but she’s not making much progress until she meets Harper, a young woman who’s been terrorized her whole life and whom everyone thinks is just trying to get her parents attention. When Charley decides to take on her case, we get some of the old Charley back, this badass heroine ready to save the day and cause some trouble, but there’s still some part of her that will never be the same.

Of course, Charley finds herself in several tricky situations throughout the book and she’ll have to learn and learn fast about the power within her because there’s something wicked coming her way.

I loved this book even more than the others. It just felt so real to me. Charley has so many layers as a character that I’m always amazed at every new glimpse of her that I get.

Then we have Reyes who is hotter than ever –if that’s even possible- in this installment and I just don’t know if I can handle him anymore. 

This one, I think is my favorite book from the whole series. It’s just right on point. I went straight for the next book as I've done with the other ones in this series. I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm fully caught up or when the series is over.

Again, if you -for some reason; any reason- haven’t read this series yet, please give it a try. It’s so good I wouldn’t want you to miss it.

Rating:

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About the author

NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious RITA, a Golden Heart, and a Daphne du Maurier. As a born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. She currently has two series with St. Martin's Press, the Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of more than 25 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys. She can be found at www.daryndajones.com.

Waiting on Wednesday [25]: Shallow Graves by Kali Walace

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming books we are looking forward to being released.

My pick for this week is:

Title: Shallow Graves
Author: Kali Walace
Expected pub. date: January 26th, 2016
Genre: YA Paranormal Horror

For fans of Holly Black and Nova Ren Suma, a gripping, hauntingly atmospheric novel about murder, revenge, and a world where monsters—human and otherwise—lurk at the fringes.
When seventeen-year-old Breezy Lin wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death, she doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past. In life, Breezy was always drawn to the elegance of the universe and the mystery of the stars. Now she must set out to find answers and discover what is to become of her in the gritty, dangerous world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she finds is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.
Tense, complex, and wholly engaging, Shallow Graves is a stunning first novel from Kali Wallace.

Why am I waiting for this book? I don't usually keep track of debut authors and most of the time I end up reading the new book or new series by an old favorite author, but next year I plan on deliberately reading a few debut novels to get me out of my comfort zone and give a new author a try. This one sounds really good, the theme being paranormal is something I know I like, but the concept seems original enough to be its own new thing, so I'm really excited to give this one a chance.

What do you think of my pick for this week WOW? 

Leave me a comment and link me to your WOW. I love reading about upcoming releases and it's just a great way to find new books :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Love,

Top Ten Tuesday [22]: Ten Book-to-Movie Adaptations I Still Need to Watch

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish.

This week I'm listing book-to-movie adaptations I haven't watched yet, either because I haven't read the book (which is like one of my pet peeves -I mean watching the movie before reading the book) or because I just haven't been in the mood and I think one that hasn't been released yet, so obviously I haven't watched it. The thing about me is that I don't usually watch all that many movies... I rather watch TV series or just read a book, to be honest, so there are probably way too many movie adaptations that pretty much everyone has watched at this point except for me. But anyway, having said that, here we go!

1) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: Ok, yes, shame on me, I haven't read the book yet, so I haven't watched the movie either. It's just that every time I think about it, I get the sense that it's just way too sad and I don't want to be sad, so I'm avoiding it.

2) Paper Towns by John Green: I didn't like the book all that much so I didn't feel in any hurry to go watch the movie when it came out. I think I'll probably watch it one of these days when I'm bored, but then again, when I'm bored I much rather read a book, so we'll see.

3) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I haven't read the book and I don't know if I will. I get anxiety every time I even think about picking up classics like this one, so I have to be in a really particular mood before going into it. For now I'm still holding out hope that I'll read the book before watching the movie, but I might end up watching the film with or without previously reading the book.

4) The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick: I watched like 20 minutes of the movie and then realized it was a book and stopped so I could read the book first... but then I forgot about it and never read the book or watched the movie. I might do it soon though because I love J-Law and that might be incentive enough to read the freaking book already so I can watch the movie without feeling dirty. 

5) The Giver by Lois Lowry: This is one of those classic that I now I HAVE to read at some point, at least the first book and I intend to, so I'm still waiting for that moment to watch the movie. 

6) The Host by Stephanie Meyer: The book is so freaking long that it puts me off every time I pick it up. I don't know if I'll read it, but I'm still holding out hope... So here we are again... waiting... not watching the movie...

7) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: The book was ridiculously popular and I never got the excitement. I don't think I own a copy of the book or maybe I lend it out. I don't know if I'll ever actually read the book, but I might watch the movie if my friends press me hard enough.

8) The Scorch Trials by James Dashner: The book was really confusing and I kind of lost interest in the series, but Dylan O'Brian might change my mind. When Teen Wolf starts back again, I'm sure I'll be feeling like I need more of him in my life and I'll end up watching the movie anyway.

9) Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan: I've wanted to read this one for so long! But I can't seem to find it on any of my local bookstores, and whenever I'm shopping online I completely forget about it... I may have to make a point of buying it online once and for all so I can finally read it and watch the movie.

10) The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey: Of course, the movie isn't out yet but also I still haven't read the book. I'm hoping I'll get to it before the movie actually comes out so I can go and watch it while they're still showing it at my local cinema. 

What's on your Top Ten this week? Have you read or watched any of the books/movies on my list? Let me know in the comment section below!

Love,

[Mini-Review] The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall

Title: The Conspiracy of Us

Author: Maggie Hall

Series: The Conspiracy of Us #1

Genre: YA Contemporary Mystery/Thriller

Published: January 13th, 2015

Publisher: Putnman Juvenile

Format: Hardcover, 336 pages

A fast-paced international escapade, laced with adrenaline, glamour, and romance--perfect for fans of Ally CarterAvery West's newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle—beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But as the clues expose a stunning conspiracy that might plunge the world into World War 3, she discovers that both boys are hiding secrets of their own. Now she will have to choose not only between freedom and family--but between the boy who might help her save the world, and the one she's falling in love with.

Get your copy!

Review

My thoughts:

This is Maggie Hall's debut novel and the first installment in a series and I thought it was pretty great overall. It's marketed as a mixture between Dan Brown and Ally Carter, both of them authors that I love so kind of big shoes to fill in. I could see some elements of both authors, sure, but the plot wasn't as thick as Dan Brown's books and the main character is not as bad-ass as Ally Carter's characters usually are. 

But even if it wasn't absolutely perfect, it was a really fun read and it kept me on the edge of my seat with anticipation throughout. The plot is well-done and the clues and revelations move it forward flawlessly.

The main character, Avery, was not my favorite, she was a little too erratic for my taste, and the love interest wasn't my cup of tea either, but they make kind of nice pairing. What made the characters department, at least for me, were the interesting secondary characters, like Stellan and Luc. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Stellan in the next book!

Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed were the romantic scenes, they were really well-paced and you could feel the sexual tension while reading them, without them being too forward or feeling rushed. 

Overall, this was a great debut novel for the author nd I'll be sure to pick up the next one on this series.

Rating:

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About the author

Maggie Hall is a traveling, decorating, champagne-drinking, USC-football-watching YA author. She is currently traveling the world for an indefinite amount of time with her husband, which means right at this moment, she might be on a beach in Thailand, drinking wine in Paris, or anywhere in between.
Her debut novel, a YA international thriller, was released from Putnam/Penguin in 2015.She is represented by Claudia Ballard at William Morris Endeavor.