Short & Simple (1)

Title: Lament
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: 336
My Rating: 2/5

Sentence Summary: A prodigious harpist discovers the existence of faeries (that are trying to kill her) and falls in love with a dangerous but gorgeous guy who has his own dark secrets.

Speaking Straightly: I did not finish this book. This is where you gasp because every since I made this blog, I have finished every book I've started except for one.

Characters were extremely frustrating. After Luke met Deirdre, they both went on how much they loved each other and would die without each other... literally, after a couple of weeks. Or less. Luke being this tortured but handsome character who decided to no longer be evil because he fell in love with the protagonist made me roll my eyes. I felt their so called "relationship" to be underdeveloped and unreal. The story itself was beh for me so after awhile, I simply lost interest and could not finish the last 100 pages.

However, I think Twilight and Need by Carrie Jones fans would take a liking to this novel. The writing is not bad either. Just the characters made me want to slam my head against the floor.

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Title: Pig Bride
Mangaka: KookHwa Huh & SuJin Kim
Age Group: Teens
Series is: Completed with 5 volumes
Volume(s) Reviewing: 1-3
My Rating: 4/5

Sentence Summary: Si-Joon's nightmare of being married to a pig bride at eight years is actually true when she visits him on his sixteenth birthday, declaring that they must consummate their marriage!

Speaking Straightly: A great tale regarding curses and reincarnations! Mu-Yeon, the pig bride, must have Si-Joon fall in love with her since they were lovers in their past lives. If not, then a horrible curse lay upon them!

An addicting series thus far and is dying for the last two volumes to be released. My favourite character would have to be Si-Joon's best friend, Ji-Oh. Love his personality and megane character! Highly recommend this series to manga and manhwa fans!

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Title: What I Saw and How I Lied
Author: Judy Blundell
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: 288
My Rating: 5/5

Sentence Summary: In post-WWII, Evie is a young girl who falls in love with an older man whose secrets destroy her life.

Speaking Straightly: A fantastic novel that evolves around the mid-20th century. The author created a great story of that era, which is quite rare in the YA fiction world. A swell contemporary read that would make the girls want to put on some lipstick, have a cigarette between their lips, and wear a daring dress.

Trailer Tuesday: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Description: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

I'm not a werewolf fan but I would like to look into this.

Win a signed ARC of Shiver, copies of Lament, and much more!

Alright, I tend to avoid putting up individual posts about contests but this time I can't help it!

Personally, I never gotten a chance to read Lament by Maggie Stiefvater yet but maybe I will if you guys help me out! The author's newest book, Shiver, is coming out soon and she's hosting a fabulous contest about it!

Shiver's summary:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Liking it? Cause you can pre-order it here! Rather get a freebie instead? Fine, listen to Maggie:

Here's the deal. It's running from May 8-15th. The idea is to convince as many of your LJ or blogger or wordpress friends to post about SHIVER (you don't have to pay them, although it might help). Winner is whoever manages to get as many of their friends to post and comment back here by 8 p.m. EST on the 15th.

And the reward? Okay. Here it is. First of all, you have to get at least 5 friends to blog about it to be eligible. Winner gets:

- a signed ARC of SHIVER
- 4 signed copies of LAMENT
- and for each of the friends that you got to comment, a critique of the first 5 pages of any of their manuscripts

And if any single person manages to get over 50 friends to comment, I'll make it 3 ARCs of SHIVER and 8 copies of LAMENT.

You like what you hear? So head over to Maggie's blog and post there that I brought your attention to this fab contest! And tell me here that you did so that way I can feel extra special.