Review for Torment by Lauren Kate

When I first heard the description and saw the cover for the first book in this series Fallen last year it was love at first sight. I read and devoured it earlier this year and have been positively pining for Torment ever since. So when it arrived in the post last week I bumped it up on my To be read pile and read it as soon as I could. Because I adored Fallen so much I had only the highest expectations for Torment, it’s definitely been one of the most highly anticipated books for me this year. The covers for this series are beautiful – quiet literally art they captivate you and draw you in and what’s inside is just as wonderful. After reading Torment I can definitely say that the Fallen series is definitely a favourite for me. I found Torment to be a very different book compared to Fallen. In Torment you get to learn a lot more about the shadows that have haunted Luce her entire life and find that they play a significant part in Luce finding out about her past lives. Torment starts when Luce and Daniel are forced apart when Luce has to attend Shoreline a school for Nephilim - part angel part human offspring who tend to inherit some sort of angel power and characteristics – to keep Luce safe and protected from the immortals that wish to kill her. Without Daniel around to answer Luce’s questions Luce searches for answers of her own by summoning the shadows that allow her to see into her past lives even though to do so can be highly dangerous. Some of the things Luce discovers doesn’t sit well with her and she begins to wonder if Daniel’s version of the past is the truth, or is she really meant to be with someone else? You learn so much more in this book about the world that Lauren Kate’s created Angels, Demons, Nephilim and Luce’s past lives definitely get more attention in Torment. Lauren’s a master at giving you just enough information so that you can understand what’s going on and leaves just enough for you to be kept in suspense making you keep reading and reading to find out some answers. I was just as desperate as Luce to find out the secrets of her past and found myself reading late into the night, time practically flying by because I was so engrossed in this book. The only thing that let me down was Luce and Daniel’s relationship with each other in Torment. Torment definitely isn’t as romantic as Fallen because Daniel and Luce have many ups and downs which resulted in them both getting on my nerves a little bit. However it has to be said that the secondary characters more than make up for that. We get to see all of our old favourite characters from Fallen make a grand return and are even introduced to some awesome new characters like Luce’s new roommate at Shoreline Shelby who was my personal favourite character and Miles a guy who comes drama free something Luce desperately needs during her torment. The secondary characters in the Fallen series are some of my favourite ever and I hope we get to see both old and new feature in future books. Torment definitely has a more suspenseful, layered feel to that of Fallen with less kissing and undying love and more action and answers. I personally loved that side to the story and think that we needed that back seat to the romance so that Luce can make her own mind up about a few things instead of taking Daniel’s word as gospel. I’ve spent the last few days addicted to Torment and would definitely recommend it to fans of Fallen and even to those who didn’t enjoy the first book all that much simply because this book is a lot different to Fallen. I’m hugely excited for the third book in this series Passion which comes out summer 2011. Highly recommended 4.5 stars. My Rating 4.5/5 stars ****1/2 Thanks go to Random House for sending me this book for review

In My Mailbox!

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren Hello my lovelies. Some of you may be pleased to see after last weeks post that I have returned with In My Mailbox! I managed to get a new phone Wednesday so that nipped the picture problem in the bud. As for the IMM jealousy thing after a lot of positive comments from my followers I’ve decided that I’m going to keep doing IMM. It seems to help them all find books and as long as it does I’m going to keep doing it for them as their the ones who read this blog. I’m pretty glad that I’ve decided to stick with it because I’m very excited about what I got in the post this week. So without further ado let’s get to the good stuff and bring out the books! Bought Elixir by Hilary Duff LA Candy - Sugar and Spice by Lauren Conrad Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson Ruined by Paula Morris For Review You Against Me by Jenny Downham Torment by Lauren Kate Boys Don't Cry by Malorie Blackman I’d like to say a big thank you to Random House for my first books for review from them this week. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to read those books – I’m currently reading Torment and I love it so far! I’m also very excited for the books I’ve brought. Lauren Conrad’s books are my guilty pleasure so I’m excited to get her latest and I thought well if I like Laurens books who’s to say I won’t like Hilarys? Which is why I got Elixir – that and the fact that it sounds pretty good! Then of course I just had to get Speak with all the fuss that’s going on around it at the moment and with it being an all time favourite of mine that I needed to replace with a new copy and then I got Ruined which sounds like a creepy YA ghost story which is perfect for some Halloween reading! What did you get in your mail boxes this week? Feel free to leave me any comments on the books I brought and leave links to your own post. Hope your all having a lovely weekend and are getting lots of reading done! :)

September Round Up & Book of the Month!

This is a post in which I’m going to share with you my highs and lows reading wise of the month and my favourite books for different categories depending on what you’re looking for. First of all though I’m going to start off by announcing the overall book of the month which means that it was my very favourite read and one that I would absolutely recommend to everybody so without further delay… September’s book of the month is… Angel by L.A. Weatherly! Well what can I say about Angel? I was just - and still am completely and utterly obsessed with this book. Definitely worthy of Septembers book of the month title! Feel free to check out my review of Angel if you haven’t already here to find out more about it. Best Plot: Angel by L.A. Weatherly Best Writing: No and Me by Delphine de Vigan Best Cover: Angel by L.A. Weatherly Best Characters: Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles Best Ending: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare Best Romance: Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles Most un-put-down-able: Angel by L.A. Weatherly Most Memorable: Angel by L.A. Weatherly Best Moral: No and Me by Delphine de Vigan Top 3 Most Recommended Books: Angel, City of Bones, Rules of Attraction Bookish Highlights of the month Finally reading City of Bones because I’ve been meaning to read that and the rest in the series for the longest time. Receiving Angel early in the mail and being picked up as a reviewer by Random House! Bookish Lows of the month Two words Infinite days. It was just a disappointment for me because I was looking forward to it so much. Pretty much everything about that book I didn’t like. I wouldn’t recommend it. Book’s I’m looking forward to in October Ah so many! It seems that this year every month there’s been a highly anticipated title coming out for me. But the big ones I’m looking forward to this month are Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick and Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl so excited! So that’s my reading for September all summed up for you guys. All links lead to reviews on my blog for each book. Have you read any of the books I’ve read this month? What were your thoughts on them? Leave me a comment and let me know and don’t forget to treat yourselves to Angel! – You won’t regret it! :)

Review for No and Me by Delphine de Vigan

When I got this book through my letter box to review I hadn’t heard anything about it before but thought that it sounded good enough. Shortly after receiving it I started seeing it everywhere. In 3 for 2 offers in bookshops, being reviewed on blogs and just generally seeming to be read and enjoyed by everybody everywhere so I bumped it up on the TBR pile and picked it up when I fancied a quick read earlier on this week. The story starts when our heroine intelligent, quirky Lou has to do a presentation (which she loathes) in front of her class. Lou chooses to do her presentation on the homeless and introduces herself to No a teenage girl living on the streets. The pair start meeting so Lou can take notes on No’s thoughts on street life. Touched by No’s story, once Lou’s research is finished Lou finds that she can’t just turn her back on No and persuades her parents to let her stay with them even though their home life is far from perfect. Lou’s family is falling to pieces. Ever since her baby sister died her mothers been deeply depressed and hasn’t left the house in years whilst Lou’s father is struggling to hold their family together. With No living with the Bertignac’s her presence forces the family to come together and challenges their beliefs on friendship, family and the true meaning of home. I found this book to be highly original. I’d never read or even heard of for that matter a book about homelessness before and it’s a real eye opener. No and Me made me consider things that I’d never really gave much thought to before and made me question the concept of home and family and what they truly mean. This book has a big message and plenty of lessons to be learned within its pages and some parts are so true and brilliant that they brought tears to my eyes on quiet a few occasions. There’s nothing else quiet like No and Me out there for teens at the moment and I think it would be a really good book for them to read. This certainly isn’t a book just for teens though. In fact there’s both a young adult and adult version on the market and I can really see why. No and Me has something to offer everyone and is the perfect book for book clubs or families to share. Like the story itself it will bring people together. I loved the characters of Lou and Lucas, they felt very real and developed to me especially as they both try to fix No because they can’t fix their own situations at home. No sparked some mixed emotions in me sometimes I wanted to hug her and look after her and other times I wanted to shake some sense into her. I didn’t agree with a lot of her actions but I could understand why she did them. I really loved seeing how each character grew through out the book especially Lou who’s intelligent yet naive a lot of teens will relate to her and I think she’s a YA heroine to look up to. Above all what made this book for me was the writing. Delphine de Vigan has a wonderful voice. Sometimes with books that are translated the writing can feel a little unnatural at times but No and Me sailed along beautifully. The writing feels almost poetic at times it really is wonderful - one of the most well written books that I’ve read all year. The only fault I had with this book was that I would of liked a bit more of a story just to give it that un put down able edge that I feel it lacked a little bit. That a side though I can appreciate it for what it is. I can see why this books doing so well at the moment and I warmly recommend it. Buy it, read it and pass it around to your family and friends. Lend it to your mums or children because it’s guaranteed to bring families together and warm your hearts. 4 stars. My Rating 4/5 stars **** Thanks go to Bloomsbury for providing a copy of this book for review.

Book Bloggers Hop & Follow My Book Blog Friday!

Hello to all my wonderful followers and to hopefully some potential new ones! This Friday I’m participating in The Book Bloggers hop which is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy for Books and Follow my Book Blog Friday that’s hosted over at Parajunkee's View if you wish to take part please stop by there and sign the Mr Linky. This week’s question from the hop is... "How do you spread the word about your blog? (e.g. Social Networking sites, Book Blog Directories, comments on other blogs...)" My answer: I don’t really spread word about it all that much. I’m not someone who leaves a link to their blog after every comment I post on someone else’s. I have a link to my blog on my twitter, librarything and goodreads for anyone who’s interested in taking a look and of course I participate in the hops but other than that that’s about it. Mostly people just find their own way here and if they like what they see they follow – plain and simple :) Feel free to leave me a comment with your answers to this week’s question. If you’re hopping by and like the look of my blog follows and comments are very much appreciated. This is a very special post as it’s my 100th :D Here’s to many more posts to come! Have a great weekend everybody!