Waiting on Wednesday

Choosing just one book was an extremely hard decision! A lot of good ones are coming out this upcoming week, that I've either heard good things about, or from authors that I love. Instead of making this hard decision, I decided to add a second book to this Waiting on Wednesday post!

...yes, if you are curious...I am a rule breaker!

Title: Alantia.
Author: Ally Condie.
Summary:

"Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamed of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all Rio’s hopes for the future are shattered when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected choice, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long silenced—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the corrupted system constructed to govern the Divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths."

Release Date: 10/28/14.

Why I'm Waiting:

While the cover is pretty horrific and gag worthy, I almost died when I realized that Ally Condie was coming out with another book. Ally Condie, if you don't know (which I wouldn't know, how you wouldn't know) is the author of the Matched Trilogy! If you didn't read it yet (which I don't know why you haven't) its honestly one of the best world building stories I've ever read! She doesn't leave out a single detail, or leave the reader questioning why something is done in this weird way, but instead she explains it all, and makes it all make sense.

When I saw Alantia was written by Ally Condie I had no other option but to include it in this post. The things I'm most excited for when it comes to this book, is obviously the world. That's what I loved about the Matched trilogy, and I'm dying to see what Ally Condie has in store for her readers this time!

Title: Eternal.
Author: C.C. Hunter.
Summary:

"All her life, Della's secret powers have made her feel separated from her human family. Now, she's where she belongs, at Shadow Falls. With the help of her best friends Kylie and Miranda, she’ll try to prove herself in the paranormal world as an investigator—all the while trying to figure out her own heart. Should she chose Chase, a powerful vampire with whom she shares a special bond? Or Steve, the hot shapeshifter whose kisses make her weak in the knees? When a person with dark connection to her past shows up, it’ll help her decide which guy to choose–and make her question everything she knows about herself."

Release Date: 10/28/14.

Why I'm Waiting:

And if that isn't enough, I'm also waiting for Eternal by C.C. Hunter. I was actually invited to take part in a blog tour for this one next week, which I'm VERY excited for. And while I haven't started reading this one just yet, I am only a few chapters away from finishing the first book in this series, Reborn.

These books are about vampires and other paranormal creatures, and yes, were all a little bit tired of that, BUT I absolutely love the characters.

Della is hilarious! I laugh out loud at most of the things she says and thinks! And I really enjoy the "romance" between her and Steve. It isn't overpowering at all, but more comical than anything else. I'm excited to get started on reading this one tomorrow, and to take part in the blog tour next week!

What books are you waiting for this week? Are you excited for Alantia and Eternal?

Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children.
Author: Ransom Riggs.
Series: Yes, #1.
Pages: 352.
Source: Purchased.
Publisher: Quirk.
Published Date: 6/7/11.
Links:
Book Depository
Goodreads

Summary:

"A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows."

My Thoughts:

Doesn't it seem like EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON PLANET EARTH HAS READ THIS BOOK??! Everyone! I swear, has picked up this book and read it! And finally, I, too, have picked it up, read it, and absolutely loved it!

...even though, it took me about a week and a half to finally start writing this review, it has nothing to do with the book itself, but my crazy schedule, and school...

If you don't know what this story is about, it basically revolves around a boy named Jacob, who recently lost his grand father due to a "monster" attack. Jacob was even the one who found him, and heard the last words he uttered, before he died that night in the forest.

Jacob remembers his childhood to be filled with amazing stories, with interesting people and creatures, that his grandfather would tell him all about. While he was still young, he fully believed each and every one of them, but as Jacob became older, and he need to believe started to fade, so did he's interest in hearing his stories.

But in those last few seconds of life, when Jacob's grandfather claimed that it was a monster who attacked him, Jacob couldn't help but wonder, maybe he was telling the truth all along. After cleaning out his grandfather's apartment with both his dad and his aunt, Jacob makes a few discoveries and a few connections between what he's grandfather said and did, that could change his life forever...

Final Verdict:

Let's all be honest! The pictures is what suckered us all into reading Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. It's just the truth! I mean who could resist?

And again, to be honest, I wasn't sure how the author was going to pull together all of these random pictures and create a story through them, that actually makes sense and flows. I just couldn't imagine it working out as smoothly as it actually did. Besides the fact that everything fit together and worked well, the pictures were also creepy as hell! So weird, like where did Ransom Riggs even find these creepy things?

What stuck out the most to me, besides these weird photographs, were the weird characters! All of the main characters were children (at least most of them, besides the villains, Jacob's parents and a few other randoms). But they weren't just any children, they were children with strange powers and abilities, and they were children who also lived the same day over and over again, in a loop.

Creepy pictures? Super power kids? Time travel? AND demonic creatures? Could this story get any more interesting?!

Overall, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children was such a different read. I picked up this book to read something strange, and weird and ultimately peculiar. I wanted my mind to be twisted and turned and rattled. I wanted something I hadn't had before...and Ransom Riggs gave me ALL of that and so much more!

I'm excited to get started on Hollow City very soon, but have you read Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children yet?!

Waiting on Wednesday

Title: Follow Me Through Darkness.
Author: Danielle Ellison.
Summary:

"Less than a year ago, Neely Ambrose's biggest worry was having the freedom to follow a path that wasn't chosen for her. Less than a year ago, she believed she could trust the Elders who said they had everyone's best interest at heart and who said they were keeping them safe from the outside. Sixty days ago she discovered what they had planned for everyone she loved-and that all of it centered around her.

Now she's on the run through a dangerous wasteland full of killing machines, secret organizations, and people who want to sell her back to the Elders for their own safety. The whole world outside the Compound is living proof that everything in Neely's life was a lie manufactured by the Elders, which may even include the boy she loves.

All Neely wants is the truth, but each new piece of it drives her further from what she thought she knew.With only forty days until everyone she loves falls under the Elders' mind control, Neely must decipher who to trust, what questions to ask, and how to get one step ahead of the Elders, who will do anything to keep their secrets buried."

Release Date: 10/21/14.

Why I'm Waiting:

Looking at the cover of this book, there is nothing that interests me or pulls me in. Honestly, the cover couldn't give away, or represent the story any less. There is just nothing there besides the title and the awkward photo.

But after taking a deeper look into, I'm excited to get my hands on a copy! In a way, this story reminded me of The Maze Runner. This girl lives in a compound where Elders basically run the place. The people in this compound, I guess have never been in the outside world, because of all the horrifying things the Elders informed them about.

But when Neely discovers that this isn't all too true, she escapes and is on the run.Now why did this remind me of The Maze Runner? I'm actually not sure. Maybe because of the compound people live inside, or because of the "killing machines" Neely encounters once she escapes. I don't really know!

Follow Me Through Darkness sounds really good, have you picked it up yet?! Do you plan to?!

The Maze Runner Movie Review!

The Maze Runner movie was released towards the end of September, and while I wasn't able to catch the movie on opening night, I did go see with Shawnee @ YA Fiction Review, and my boyfriend (who I forced to read the book...and later dragged to the movie) the following weekend.

And while Shawnee got to writing her movie review right away, I'm just now posting it....so sad!

Anyways! Better late than never...right?

The Maze Runner movie was everything I wanted and so much more! The actors were phenomenal, the script stuck to the story pretty well, and the actor for Teresa wasn't as bad as I thought she would be!

There is just so much to talk about this movie, so lets start off with the actors!

When reading The Maze Runner, I had an idea of what each character would look like, sound like, act like, and overall be like. Watching this movie, it was incredible just how much these characters looked and lived, like how I imagined them to. It was like James Dashner and all the movie producers came and took it right out of my mind; it was that similar!

One of the things I was most excited about when it came to the Gladers, was the language. In the book, their slang words are a big deal...I don't think you can go a single page without reading the word "shuck" or "shuck face". But sadly, we didn't get too much of that while watching the movie. YES, there was the ocassional "shuck" and the overpowering "greenie", but other than that..nothing.

When the actors for this movie were first released, I wasn't too sure how I felt about Kaya Scodelario playing Teresa. For one thing, I imagined Teresa to be blonde in the book (don't ask me why, I just had the sense that she was), and she just reminded me waaaay too much of Kristen Snow...to the point that it was annoying.

But after watching the movie, I loved her! The fact that she looked like Kristen Snow didn't bother me anymore, once the movie started playing, and I got the chance to see her acting!

And how cute is Chuck?!

Besides the actors, and how well they stuck to the Glader lifestyle, the world completely took my breathe away! The Glades, the Maze, the walls, the Grievers! Everything was absolutely amazing! I couldn't even wrap my mind around how realistic and good everything looked.

Could some of these scenes be any better? NO! They kicked ass!

An amazing world, and good actors? What else is there to talk about?

...oh yeah! The crazy, "I know it was happening, but I cried anyways" ending! 

I cried when I read it, and I cried even more when I watched it. How does that even happen? I knew it was coming, it happened to me before, I had the time to prepare...yet I still shed a few tears when the end finally came.

The whole "ending" didn't go exactly as planned, but it concluded with the same results. Love that the movie stuck to the story as well as it did, even towards the end, when I wished "someone" would have stayed alive.

They did an amazing job with The Maze Runner, and truly made the story come to life! If you haven't gone to see The Maze Runner yet, or picked up the book, I recommend doing so NOW! But of course, read the book first, then the movie.

It's Monday, What Am I Reading?

Title: Loop.
Author: Karen Akins.
Summary:

"At a school where Quantum Paradox 101 is a required course and history field trips are literal, sixteen year-old time traveler Bree Bennis excels…at screwing up.

After Bree botches a solo midterm to the 21st century by accidentally taking a boy hostage (a teensy snafu), she stands to lose her scholarship. But when Bree sneaks back to talk the kid into keeping his yap shut, she doesn’t go back far enough. The boy, Finn, now three years older and hot as a solar flare, is convinced he’s in love with Bree, or rather, a future version of her that doesn’t think he’s a complete pain in the arse. To make matters worse, she inadvertently transports him back to the 23rd century with her. 

Once home, Bree discovers that a recent rash of accidents at her school are anything but accidental. Someone is attacking time travelers. As Bree and her temporal tagalong uncover seemingly unconnected clues—a broken bracelet, a missing data file, the art heist of the millennium—that lead to the person responsible, she alone has the knowledge to piece the puzzle together. Knowledge only one other person has. Her future self.

But when those closest to her become the next victims, Bree realizes the attacker is willing to do anything to stop her. In the past, present, or future. "

My Thoughts So Far:

According to my Kindle App, I'm about 46% of the way through Loop! Before receiving the chance to be in a blog tour for this book, I hadn't heard anything about it, or the author. After giving the synopsis a read, I knew there would be no way I could turn this book down...because would doesn't love time traveling?!

With being about way through, my mind has been boggled and I've already had a few good laughs! Bree is absolutely hilarious; the things she thinks and the things she says out loud sometimes are so blunt and honest, and that's what I love about her.

The other thing that I really like so far, is seeing the relationship between Bree and Finn, both now and then. Not because the book goes from the past to the future, and back again, but because Bree is living in the now (barely knowing Finn), while Finn is living in the "future" of their relationship, and always forgetting Bree isn't. It's interesting, cute and funny!

I'm exciting to go to work today, so I can continue reading! Have you read Loop yet?

Book Review: Where Silence Gathers.

Title: Where Silence Gathers.
Author: Kelsey Sutton.
Series: Yes, #2.
Pages: 360.
Source: Library, Borrowed.
Publisher: Flux.
Published Date: 7/8/14.
Links:
Book Depository
Goodreads

Summary:

"In this companion novel to the critically acclaimed Some Quiet Place, Alex must choose between Revenge and Forgiveness.

For as long as she can remember, Alexandra Tate has been able to see personified Emotions, and she's found a best friend in Revenge. He's her constant companion as she waits outside Nate Foster's house, clutching a gun. Every night since Nate's release from prison, Alex has tried to work up the courage to exact her own justice on him for the drunk driving accident that killed her family.

But there's one problem: Forgiveness. When he appears, Alex is faced with a choice—moving on or getting even. It's impossible to decide with Forgiveness whispering in one ear . . . and Revenge whispering in the other."

My Thoughts:

I originally picked this one up, because I LOVED Some Quiet Place! These two stories are honestly the strangest and most mind blowing books ever!

I assumed this book would take place right where Some Quiet Place ended, but I was wrong. While there were a lot of the similar elements in Where Silence Gathers, and we even got to hear a few snippets of Fear and Elizabeth, it was a completely different perspective.

Instead of following Elizabeth and Fear, Where Silence Gathers follows the perspective of Alexandra; she's a high school senior, living with her aunt and uncle, and still dealing with the loss of her parents and younger brother. Like Elizabeth, Alexandra can see the emotions and elements, but unlike Elizabeth, Alexandra can also feel them.

After the car accident that killed her entire family, years ago, Alexandra's life hasn't being going all that well. She's not really interested in school, she doesn't have any plans for after senior year, and when she isn't spending time with her two best friends, she's usually lost in her own thoughts.

Alexandra has seen Revenge since she was young, since the day that her family passed away. Since the day the intoxicated driver crashed into their car, and killed everything that was ever important to her. He first claimed to be her friend, but over the years their relationship has changed and becoming really strange and dynamic. Alexandra isn't sure sometimes if he really is her friend, or is just trying to do his job; make her seek revenge.

When Alexandra discovers that the drunk driver was released from prison, she can't help herself and head to his house. To see who he is, what he looks like, and what he's feeling.

She soon discovers that he is a sad man, filled with regret. But Alexandra struggles with the decision of choosing Revenge or Forgiveness....she spends most of the book considering her options.

Final Verdict:

My final verdict on Where Silence Gathers is that even though it wasn't the story I was expecting with the characters I was hoping for, I still LOVED it. I think even more than I would have if the story continued with Elizabeth and Fear. Why? Because I was given the same elements in the same world, but just from a different perspective.

To be honest, now that I think about it, I don't know how Kelsey Sutton could have continued the story between Elizabeth and Fear.

Again, the characters in Where the Silence Gather, were strange, interesting and had depth. Alexander wasn't shallow, and was really grieving the loss of her family, even years later. I liked that! I liked that it wasn't just something that happened and she moved on. I liked seeing her deal with tough situations, like the drunk driver being released from prison, and the struggle with her education and future.

While there seems to be a love triangle throughout the last half of the book or so, it's really not. Alexander is introduced to another emotion, that she just can't shake off; Forgiveness. There isn't too much romance in this story, simply because it's impossible...(you'll have to read the book to know why!)

Overall, Where the Silence Gathers was an amazing installment in the series. Kelsey Sutton has created the weirdest concept, and I couldn't get enough. Even after reading both of these books, I still can't wrap my mind around it.

Have you picked up Where the Silence Gathers? What did you think? Seeing emotions! CRAZY!

WWW Wednesday

Welcome to Turning Pages!

What am I currently reading?

Tonight, I'm not only enjoying the last chapter of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs, but also the first few chapters of Reborn, by C.C. Hunter. I'm actually taking part in a blog tour for the second installment to Reborn, Eternal. And obviously, I can't read the second book in a series, without reading the first one! I'm excited to start getting into it more; I've heard a lot of good things about C.C. Hunter's writing style!

What did I just finish reading?

UHH! Is it sad that I don't even know? My college textbooks, do those count??! Please!

What do I plan on reading next?

After finishing up Reborn, I plan to pick up Eternal, by C.C. Hunter (if you haven't already guessed) and I'll probably pick up Loop, by Karen Akins. Loop is another blog tour that I'm taking part in! I'm excited to see how the story goes, and if I like the characters! I love time travel/futuristic books!