Review + G!veaway: Hidden (Avena #1) by Marianne Curley

Author: Marianne Curley

Series: Avena

Pages: 325

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Australia

Amazon: Hidden

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

For as long as Ebony can remember, she’s been sheltered. Confined to her home in a secluded valley, home-schooled by her protective parents, and limited to a small circle of close friends. It’s as if she’s being hidden.

But something is changing in Ebony. Something that can’t be concealed. She’s growing more beautiful by the day, she’s freakishly strong, and then there’s the fact that she’s glowing.

On one fateful night, Ebony meets Jordan and she’s intensely drawn to him. It’s as if something explodes inside of her—something that can be seen from the heavens. Ebony still doesn’t know that she’s a stolen angel, but now that the heavens have found her, they want her back.

Review: 3 out of 5 stars

Hidden by Marianne Curley was kindly provided to me by the publisher, Bloomsbury Australia in exchange for my honest review.

Angel books tend to be hit or miss for me and I must admit Hidden started off really slowly and wasn’t holding my attention; but as it progressed so too did my interest and I found myself enjoying Ms. Curley’s writing style and storytelling.

Our main protagonist is sixteen year-old Ebony who has been hidden away by her parents from the outside world, she feels she is different with her unusual violet eyes enhanced abilities and in the way her body is changing but getting answers from her parents has been like pulling teeth, they remain vague and don’t seem to know a lot about the contract they signed with a mysterious man who left her on their doorstep as a baby. But answers soon come when she meets Jordan, a fellow classmate with a painful life story.

After a near fatal incident at an underage nightclub, Jordan is saved by an Angel named Thane and has been tasked with convincing Ebony of the threats surrounding her, with the story being told from both Ebony and Jordan’s POV’s we get a clear look into their thoughts and their actions; seeing them interact and learn more about the angels and the dangers I found to be quite interesting.

The pacing I found to be choppy and the plot was unfortunately predictable but in saying this, I did enjoy seeing the details of the stolen angel and the disappearance of Ebony’s parents being unraveled; the history and the angel background information we were given I found to be written well and the angel realm of Avena which I am looking forward to learning more about was fascinating.

I liked some characters more than others, Ebony at times I found to be lackluster and frustrating whereas Jordan and his past and his purpose I was more curious about; I hope in future installments we are given more detail about the Guardian and Angel relationship, at this stage I am still a little confused. Each of the angels was written well, I especially liked Thane and I’m eager to know of his destiny.

Overall, despite a few elements not meshing well with me Hidden was an intriguing start to this series and the cover is absolutely stunning! I am curious to read the sequel to learn more about the world and the characters Ms. Curley has created.

Thank-you to Bloomsbury Publishing Australia for the opportunity to read and review Hidden.

Giveaway:

If you are a resident of Australia/NZ, please complete the below rafflecopter form for your chance to win a copy of Hidden.

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Obsession with Books is turning 2!!

Obsession with Books is turning 2! 

I completely forgot about my one year anniversary so have been frantically checking my calendar regularly just to ensure I didn't miss my 2nd! I wanted to do a giveaway to thank everyone who has supported me and my blog, I didn't expect to be a part of such an AMAZING blogging community so this is a small way to say I appreciate your visits, comments and your friendship.

How the blog came to be::

When I first started blogging (on the 30^th March 2011), I did it as a way to keep track of all the books/series/authors I was reading, I was using Goodreads but only ever rating the books so my blog came about to log my personal thoughts and to be honest I did it never expecting to have one follower let alone 1600+ so it has truly been an unexpected welcome.

Why I love it::

Besides for my sanity!! I have met some amazing blogging friends from all around the globe which has been absolutely wonderful, they are each inspirational and reading the comments I receive is something that makes my day so a very BIG thank-you!!

Getting to chat to publishers and authors is something I also didn’t expect and it still wows me every time I receive a book; get a tweet or a message from someone I really admire, my family at times thinks I am crazy when I squeal like a fangirl!

Thank-you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who follows me here, on Twitter, Goodreads or Facebook, it is greatly appreciated!

Giveaway::

So as a way to celebrate this milestone I have decided to offer two (2) very special followers a chance to win a book of their choice (pre-orders accepted) from The Book Depository to the value of $15aud each.

** Giveaway is open internationally as long as TBD ships to you.

** Ends midnight 7^th April 2013 aest

** The book will be shipped by the Book Depository - no responsibility will be taken for misplaced/lost items.

** Not all options are mandatory, my only requirement is you follow Obsession with Books in some way.

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Excerpt: Dented Cans by Heather Walsh

I am pleased to be able to welcome Heather Walsh to my blog today to share with us an excerpt from her Young Adult novel, Dented Cans

Goodreads – Twitter – Website - Amazon

Synopsis

A family secret is revealed during an ill-fated—yet hilarious—trip to Disney World.

Sixteen-year-old Hannah Sampson knows her family is not what you would call normal. Her father compulsively buys dented cans and has a particular fondness for cans without labels, which are extremely discounted because their contents are a mystery. Her mother takes

countless pictures of her family and then glues them down into the pages of her scrapbooks, but does not allow anyone to look at them.Ryan, Hannah's mischievous fourteen-year-old brother, is headed straight for the remedial track at the local community college, if he’s lucky.  Ben, her eight-year-old brother, is a walking sound effects machine, who prefers to communicate with noises rather than words. While Hannah is focused on escaping her working-class Connecticut suburb, she also finds herself being tugged back home as she worries about her brother Ben.

Hannah’s parents inflict one last family vacation on the Sampson children, a trip that goes comically wrong almost from the get-go. Hannah is forced to confront her family's past in Disney World, of all places, when an emotional argument prompts her parents to disclose a

secret they have been keeping from the children for sixteen years.

Ultimately, she must decide whether to leave her hometown and not look back, or to focus on helping her family.

 

Author Bio

Heather Walsh grew up in North Haven, CT, fantastically close to Pepe’s pizza.

She received a B.A. in English at Mary Washington College, which has 

been renamed to, drum roll please… the University of Mary Washington. 

This was after a failed attempt to name it Washington & Monroe 

University, because there aren’t enough schools honoring dead 

Virginian men already. Heather graduated Phi Betta Kappa and summa cum 

laude, which sounds kind of fancy but really means she took easy 

classes.

She taught high school English in Brooklyn for one year, where she 

loved the students but not the system. She then joined corporate 

America and worked there for too many years as an IT trainer, project 

manager, business analyst, and SQL dabbler (select * from

Dented_Cans).

Her favorite writer is Alice Munro, her favorite movie is The 

Godfather Parts I & II (tied for first), and her favorite TV show is 

The Wire. She has lived in some pretty neat places, including Brooklyn 

(kind of before it was hipster-cool to do so), Manhattan, and San 

Francisco. The unfortunate result of living in these locations is that 

she has become an obnoxious foodie.

She currently lives in Brookline, MA with her husband, Mike DeLucia, 

and her two children. 

Excerpt from Dented Cans

Here is a brief sample, during the trip to Disney World. This is in the voice of Hannah, the narrator of the novel.

We did a few more rides, and then we went to the World Showcase, the section of EPCOT that consisted of pavilions “showcasing” various countries. In reality just a bunch of overpriced restaurants and gaudy gift shops “hawking” ethnic food and trinkets. Before we were allowed to eat lunch, we had to locate a restroom so we could rid our hands of
the thousands of germs that only Dad had the ability to detect. Then we spread out across two benches in Italy right next to Alfredo’s Restaurant, where people who actually purchased their food went to eat. It was a good thing we’d brought our own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That and chicken fingers would have probably been a hard ethnic cuisine to place. Maybe the Nutritionally Defunct Pavilion?

Mom began passing out the sandwiches. I felt as if I shouldn’t eat mine, knowing the hard work that went into making it.

“This World Showcase is so boring,” Ryan said.

“This World Showcase is so stereotyped,” I said. “Who knew the only thing Italians do is listen to ‘O Solo Mio’ while they eat spaghetti and meatballs? And if you’re German, you obviously dance the polka. Half of it isn’t even true.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know that Mexicans just hit piñatas all day. And you can buy your own to whack for just 19.99,” Ryan said.

“Hannah, stop questioning everything. Just try to enjoy it,” Dad said.

Stop questioning everything. I think Dad was just quoting Socrates there. Didn’t he say that? My fellow Greeks, stop questioning everything. Just enjoy. Enjoy EPCOT.

“OK, I won’t point out that Africa, the second largest continent on the planet, isn’t even represented here,” I said.

“We’ve heard enough of your opinion on the matter. Can you please just let your younger brother enjoy this?” Dad said.

Sure. I could keep the truth to myself. Socrates and I were kindred spirits. Perhaps Dad had some hemlock for me to drink?

“Did you bring any canned peaches for dessert?” Ryan said.

I laughed.

“OK, very funny,” Dad said.

Buy Link

The novel is available on Amazon in paperback and for Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A12XW52

Waiting on Wednesday #WoW - School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins

Hi everyone, thank-you so much for stopping by my WoW!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine which spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My choice for this weeks WoW is School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins and is the first book in the School Spirits series.

Series: School Spirits

Pages: 304

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Dysney-Hyperion

Release Date: 14^th May 2013

Amazon Pre-order: School Spirits

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy's mom decides they need to take a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who's always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt? 

Rachel Hawkins' delightful spin-off brings the same wit and charm as theNew York Times best-selling Hex Hall series. Get ready for more magic, mystery and romance!

What is your WoW for this week?

Review: Sanctum (Guards of the Shadowlands #1) by Sarah Fine

Author: Sarah Fine

Series: Guards of the Shadowlands

Pages: 433

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Children's/Amazon Children's Publishing

Amazon: Sanctum

Tumbl – Website – Twitter – Facebook – Goodreads – Amazon - Blog

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

“My plan: Get into the city. Get Nadia. Find a way out. Simple.”

A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos’s best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, thanks to a farewell ritual gone awry, Lela is standing in paradise, looking upon a vast gated city in the distance—hell. No one willingly walks through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn’t just anyone—she’s determined to save her best friend’s soul, even if it means sacrificing her eternal afterlife. 

As Lela struggles to find Nadia, she’s captured by the Guards, enormous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city’s endless streets. Their all-too-human leader, Malachi, is unlike them in every way except one: his deadly efficiency. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his own plan: get her out of the city, even if it means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn’t—the dark city isn’t the worst place Lela could end up, and he will stop at nothing to keep her from that fate.

Review: 4 ½ out of 5 stars

Sanctum was such a pleasant surprise, the dark and gritty setting Sarah Fine has created was filled with vivid imagery, likeable characters and a world which is compelling and unique. I was literally glued to the pages and I’m more than eager and excited to read the next book in the Guards of the Shadowlands series.

Sanctum follows the story of seventeen-year-old Lela Santos who is fraught with despair after her best friend Nadia commits suicide, when she takes some time out to say her good-byes she inadvertently ends up falling to her own death and finds herself standing in a countryside paradise but instead of entering, she turns to the dark and dreary suicide gates in the hopes of saving Nadia from the nightmare she has seen in her visions.

I thought the world and rules of Sanctum was written really well, Ms Fine has created a place filled with danger and hideous creatures, it was dark, gritty and full of gloom and Nadia’s arrival has resulted in her capture by the Guards, led by human Malachi Sokol.

Malachi has been the leader of the Guards for a very long time and boy did I instantly adore him! He’s lethal, intimidating, super smexy and devoted to ridding the dark city of the Mazikin – creepy venomous creatures with an agenda of their own. I loved the way he protected Lela and helped her to overcome her grief and fears, their relationship did happen very quickly but in this instance I didn’t find it too much too soon, it was believable and their interactions were really sweet.

Both of the main characters were amazing! Lela was tough, capable but also vulnerable, her devotion to Nadia was extremely selfless but I felt at the same time it was too much, she never felt for herself and put others at risk. She has a past which was traumatic so her plight was certainly without cause but it was just a little OTT.

Sanctum touches on some sensitive subject matters such as rape and suicide but Ms. Fine wrote them in a way which shows there is still a chance for love, healing and hope.

Overall, if you are after a book with a fast-paced plot, wonderfully written, flawed yet likeable characters and a romance which leaves you gushing and hoping for more then I highly recommend Sanctum. 

ARC Review: Nameless (A Tale of Beauty and Madness #1) by Lili St. Crow

 

Author: Lili St. Crow
Series: A Tale of Beauty and Madness
Pages:  304

Publisher: Penguin Books Australia (Razorbill)
Genre: Young Adult - Paranormal
Amazon: Nameless

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

When Camille was six years old, she was discovered alone in the snow by Enrico Vultusino, godfather of the Seven—the powerful Families that rule magic-ridden New Haven. Papa Vultusino adopted the mute, scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and raising her in luxury on Haven Hill alongside his own son, Nico.

Now Cami is turning sixteen. She’s no longer mute, though she keeps her faded scars hidden under her school uniform, and though she opens up only to her two best friends, Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother to her. But even though Cami is a pampered Vultusino heiress, she knows that she is not really Family. Unlike them, she is a mortal with a past that lies buried in trauma. And it’s not until she meets the mysterious Tor, who reveals scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth…to find out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.

New York Times bestselling author Lili St. Crow thrilled legions of fans with her dark paranormal series Strange Angels. Now she has crafted an evocative update of Snow White, set in a vividly imagined world and populated by unforgettable new characters.

Review: 3 ½ out of 5 stars

Nameless is the first book I have read by Lili St. Crow and the first two words which popped to mind after reading it was strange and unusual. It was a book which confused me but also mesmerised me, I was intrigued by the creativity and spectacular world created but also wanted and needed more in terms of explanation.

Nameless was inspired by the Brothers Grimm story, Snow White which I have always loved but it certainly didn’t depict the story in quite the same way, I really enjoyed the creative spin Ms. St. Crow put on this classic fairy tale.

The story follows 16 year-old Camille who was found abandoned and beaten in the snow at the age of 6 by a man known as 'the vulture' , Enrico Vultusino who is the leader of one of the seven most powerful and influential families who rule magical New Haven.

Sent to St. Juno's, a pure human charm school and raised as a member of the wealthy Vultusino's, Cami's life is of privilege but she has never felt that she quite belonged. I really liked Cami as a character, she was selfless, self-conscious of her stutter and devoted to those she loves, I adored her thought processes and her actions and reactions were believable.

Trying to explain everything is quite difficult because I am still a tad clueless about who is who and what is what, we have Fausts, Families (Vampires), Griffs, Charms and Minotaurs but despite my confusion, I found the story creative, dark and unique and filled with mystery about Cami's traumatic past, questions about why young girls are being stolen from their homes and the reasoning behind it and also fascinated by the strange setting and vivid world. I was surprised by a few outcomes so I am eager to see how certain aspects are followed up, especially now Cami knows where she belongs.

The love interest in the book is Nico Vultusino, the rebellious son who will run the Family once Papa Vultusino passes to the Undead; he was so protective towards Cami but I wasn’t quite sure where his feelings really lay – brotherly or more but in the end his actions ended up speaking for themself and I quite liked the outcome.

Lili St. Crow's writing is gripping, the plot flowed well and I found the pacing was consistent throughout; each of the secondary characters were likeable, the twist we are given about Tor, a Vultusino groundskeeper I found to be really interesting and definitely not expected, I hope we see more of him in future installments.

The A Tale of Beauty and Madness series has great potential, I am really eager to see where Lili St.Crow takes the story in the sequel.

Thank-you kindly to Razorbill for providing me with a copy of Nameless.