Prada & Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard

Title: Prada & Prejudice

Author: Mandy Hubbard

Age Group: Teens

# of Pages: 238

My Rating: 4/5

Callie goes to London for a school trip. She is known as that clumsy girl in class. Hoping to increase some sort of popularity, she decides to go and buy some real Prada heels. Immediately after she puts them on, she trips and blacks out. Next thing she knows, she wakes up in the early 1800s of England! She must find a way to get back to the present, but how?

I was really hyped up to read this novel in the beginning because it looked really cute, and it was. There are many novels that are set during a historical period but rarely do they involve some time-traveling. I always wanted to read a book about the protagonist that gets sent back (or forward) to another era and see how they interact in that world with the current knowledge of today.

I was a little disappointed that Callie badly wanted to get noticed in the beginning. In general, I would like to see female characters being comfortable with themselves rather than striving for popularity, perfection, or whatnot. What I did love about her was that she had a sense of pride and vast knowledge when she was stuck in 1815. Alex, Duke of Harksbury, looked down upon her because she was a girl and she stuck up for herself, refusing to bow down to anything. So you could definitely see a transition of character development for Callie throughout the novel. If I was to see Callie in ten years, she would be studying medicine or working for an organization of women empowerment. She was the type of character that had a lot of future potential but didn't recognize it yet for herself.

Prada & Prejudice is an adorable and light read that female readers can definitely take a liking to! I recommend it for Jane Austen lovers and anyone that likes a bit of a present and history mix.

Review copy provided by Penguin Group (Canada).

3rd Batch of Blogoversary Winners

Many people have yet to claim their prizes. Please click here to see if you won the other contests! Winners, email me the prize you won and address ASAP to faked_sugartone at hotmail.com!

linz for The Poison Diaries

EVA SB for David Inside Out

throuthehaze for Never Slow Dance with a Zombie

Cass for Ballads of Suburbia

Alice in the Country of Hearts by Soumei Hoshino & Quinrose

Title: Alice in the Country of Hearts

Mangaka: Quinrose (Story) & Soumei Hoshino (Art)

Age Group: Older Teens

Series is: Ongoing with 5 volumes

Volume(s) Reviewing: 1

My Rating: 4/5

Alice Liddell is randomly kidnapped one day by a rabbit in a suit who claims to be in love with her! He takes her to the world called Wonderland where she must play a game in order to escape. She meets some pretty odd characters there and apparently, parts of Wonderland are at war with each other. Being caught up in this crazy realm, Alice must try to keep her head together and get out quickly!

So as you can see, this manga is based off the classical tale that I'm sure everyone knows of. Characters from the original Alice in Wonderland is used and as well as the broad concept of the world. But at the same time, the mangakas definitely recreated for their own plot. There is definitely intrigue for this series, from what is presented in the first volume. It seems like there would be a lot of mysteries involved and the series might stretch out since it is still ongoing.

I really like the art and definitely the characters' designs. The clothes are really pretty and to be able to reproduce the same thing in real life would take a lot of time and skill. I like all of the character designs, except for Blood (aka the Mad Hatter). His hair is just not working with his face and sometimes that bothers me when all the other characters are better looking.

There is one flaw that I noticed while reading the first volume. The Cheshire Cat or in the manga called Boris, is dressed up like a punk. The thing is, Alice pointed this out and I found it very out of place. The reason is because she lives in an era where punks were not yet to exist. So how in the heck's world would she be able to define Boris as punk when there was no such thing in her time?

I recommend this series for manga fans. Those into mangas where characters get to fall into a parallel world should enjoy Alice in the Country of Hearts delightfully.

Review copy provided by HarperCollins Canada.

The Journey of Om by Chandru Bhojwani

Title: The Journey of Om

Author: Chandru Bhojwani

Age Group: Adults

# of Pages: 287

My Rating: 3/5

Om discovers the love of his life, Preeti, has cheated on him. It breaks his heart terribly and he cannot properly function, knowing that his life will never be the same. Two of the closest people to him, his cousin Mona and best friend Arun, are also in their own predicaments. The three struggle through their own personal journeys as they discover love, heartbreaks, and betrayal.

By the book's synopsis, it was unlikely that I would have ever picked up this novel if it wasn't for a request. I tend to avoid all sob stories as much as I can because I hate being sad. It did not turn out to be depressing as I originally thought it would, which was a good thing. However, I think it is the book's downfall because it seems like it should have been more heart provoking than it was.

There was potential in this novel. In my opinion though, the writing did not match up to the story in sequence. I felt that there was something missing from the writing. Sometimes there would be big descriptions and other times, it was pure dialogue. The writing was uneven. Sometimes it would jump back and forth from present to past. Most of the time, I saw it coming but other times, it just came out of nowhere. I think that there shouldn't have been so many past memories included because from what I was reading, it was unnecessary to the development of the plot.

The situations that were happening were realistic for sure, but there were times it was like "Really?" The one thing I did like about this book are the articles that the protagonist wrote, because he is a journalist. I also liked the Bollywood feel to the story. My best friend is Indian and she is a huge Bollywood fan. I was proud to have spot out and knew some of the terms and celebrities that were included because she somewhat exposed me to that world. So this book reminded me of her in that way and the fact that she really likes sad romances.

My biggest problem would be the ending. I was left puzzled and a little peeved. There is a huge cliffhanger but with an obvious hint of how it will turn out. I am unable to spoil it but it was disappointing after all that had happened.

I would recommend this novel for sure to Bollywood fans that enjoy love drama.

Review copy provided by Chandru Bhojwani.

2nd Batch of Blogoversary Winners

Here is my 2nd batch of winners! Email me ASAP at faked_sugartone at hotmail.com with your address and prize you won! And also, please check 1st batch of winners to see if you won by clicking here!

Wanda for Explorer X- Alpha
Yan for Sucks to Be Me

linaramz for She's So Money

Dominique for either Zombie Queen of Newbury High OR You Had Me at a Halo (Email choice)

Frostbite by Richelle Mead

Title: Frostbite

Author: Richelle Mead

Age Group: Teens

# of Pages: 327

My Rating: 4/5

The Strigoi has struck once again, killing another royal vampire family. Students and people of St. Vladimir's are freaking out, trying to grasp their heads around the insane situation. In order to take everyone's mind off the problem, they are taken to a luxurious ski resort.

Rose is able to enjoy the awesome ski hills and scenery. However, being a guardian means she mustn't be too relaxed. Things turned out for the worse when she discovered that three of her classmates decided to pursue the Strigoi. She must find a way to get them back before anything terrible could happen.

In this novel, we get introduced to a couple of new and important characters. They add a bit more complexity, especially when it comes to Rose because she gets some mixed feelings. Dimitri might like Tasha, who is Christian's aunt. This gets Rose jealous, which is completely understandable since she likes him but can not do anything about it because of their relationship. Her actions towards Dimitri felt completely real, even though it was somewhat rude. I like how her character is very diverse and her feelings are well explored. Another character that comes into scene is the mysterious Adrian, Lissa's cousin. I like him because he definitely adds mystery to the story and I want to see what kind of role he plays in the later novels of the series.

I come to like what had happened towards the end. I expected to be typical somehow, with Rose being trapped in a dilemma. However, it was drawn out realistically and it made the novel better. Although the characters were vampires, Mead shows that they aren't almighty and powerful as they are sometimes depicted to be.

Frostbite is a good read. I still don't find that the series is out of the world, but it's something that should be looked into at least once (especially for vampire novel fans). If you have read The Vampire Academy, I recommend trying out its sequel.

Review copy provided by Penguin Group (Canada).

1st Batch of Blogoversary Winners

So here's the deal: University is hectic as hell right now. I have midterms and essays that I must deal within the month. I know for sure that I wouldn't be able to ever get the blogoversary winners drawn if I was to do it all at once.

So I'm going to do them 4 at a time. This way, there is less delay in winners being announced and I can get it done with one at a time. So expect four more posts regarding blogoversary winners. I don't know when the next post will be. I might have a couple of new reviews before the second one comes along. I'm trying my best so please forgive me!

If winners do not claim their prizes after I have drawn all winners, will redraw at the end.

Winners for the first four contests are...

Just Your Typical Book Blog, Lora1967, and Aik for Death Mill Mansion: A Light-Hearted Comedy

Debbie F for Invisible Touch

Briana for Silver Phoenix

Maddie McPhail for Little Vampire Women

Congrats and email me the book you won and address at faked_sugartone at hotmail.com pronto!

Princess Princess by Mikiyo Tsuda

Title: Princess Princess

Mangaka: Mikiyo Tsuda

Age Group: Older Teens

Series is: Completed with 5 volumes

Volume(s) Reviewing: 4

My Rating: 3/5

At the school festival, the princesses have tons to do. However, they are in for a treat when they get to meet Mikoto's girlfriend for the first time! Not only that, but there is a new transfer student. Apparently, he is direct competition with Sakamoto-sama in order to become the student council president! What will happen?

Volume 4 fell short for me. I found the story line to be running dry. However, coming from the last volume, I was excited to find out who Mikoto's girlfriend was. But the thing was, she was a character from Tsuda's other series, The Day of Revolution, and I found myself to be slightly disappointed. I haven't read the other series yet but I do know of its synopsis. I guess in a way that it is understandable because Mikoto is a character from The Day of Revolution who the mangaka decided to use when she ran out of ideas when coming up with character concepts for Princess Princess.

Tsuda decided to add five pages extra about her and her other mangaka friend's, Eiki Eiki, post-recording report. When I'm reading my manga, I read it for the story, not the mangaka's life. I generally don't mind it if it is at a panel on the side of a page but it took up 5 good pages that could be used towards something better for the series.

There is a bonus story at the end also that is about the princesses' daily lives. Not that interesting unfortunately. A little attempted comedy here and there but it was unsatisfying.

However, I do like the costume design at the back of the manga! I love the Japanese traditional-lolita theme. Tsuda never fails to come up with cute and cool costume concepts that I really want to dress up in.

Bookmooched copy from Tania.

Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

Title: Spider's Bite

Author: Jennifer Estep

Age Group: Adults

# of Pages: 432

My Rating: 3.5/5

Gin Blanco is an assassin who will get the job done without fail. Her nickname is the Spider and the people who know of her, fear her.

She is given a task where she has to assassinate a target. Same old work, right? However, things turn out very wrong when the people who hired her tries to kill her instead. They end up murdering her handler, who is like a father to her. Now she will stop at nothing to get her revenge. She ends up teaming up with gorgeous Detective Donavon Caine who wants nothing less than her dead. What will become of the Spider?

The first thing that became apparent when I started reading the book was Gin is a pretty cocky character. She thinks she is so hot and that she is the best thing out there. I don't mind characters that are confident in themselves but the way Gin did it, I wasn't so pleased about it. I got a hang of her, however, over time.

For the story, it wasn't exactly the best but it wasn't the worst either. There were times where you could put the book down and while in others, it could grab your attention here and there. There was only one sex scene but it only lasted maybe a couple pages. I haven't read any other assassin stories so I can not compare this novel to any other series. I didn't feel that it was 5/5 though. However, I think it would better if it was written in third person. I did not like how Gin described herself throughout the book. If I was to have read her description in third person, it would be so much better.

I recommend this series to urban fantasy lovers; but maybe preview or borrow it before buying.

Won copy from SciFiGuy.ca.