New YA Releases: 18 October, 2011

Here are some upcoming releases this week.

Hardcover:

+ Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
+ The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
+ Seizure by Kathy Reichs
+ Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel
+ Swear by Nina Malkin

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
Released: December 7, 2010
Series: Vampire Academy [Book Six]
Publisher: Razor Bill
Pages: 594
Source: Purchased
Buy it: Book Depository (free shipping) | Amazon

ATTENTION: As this is part of a series, please be aware that this review will contain spoilers for the series, but not for the book itself. If you have not read the rest of the Vampire Academy books, please keep this in mind.

It all comes down to now.
Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate sacrifice.

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friends and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy the Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose - for a crime she didn't even commit. She's in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She'll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose's life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back.. And this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

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An epic finale to a truly amazing series. My favourite vampire series by far. However, my relationship with the books was kind of strange. I would be reading one, totally engrossed and fascinated, and then when it finished I would forget about it a bit. I did not jump at the opportunity to pick up the next. I don’t know why - the books are amazing, maybe it is just a result of the sheer size of half of the books.

I don't know what it is about Mead's writing style and the world she has created, but I get completely sucked into the story. This particular vampire world is so unique, and I loved it. I stayed up until 3am to read this book, because I just could not draw myself away. There is so much that goes on in the story, leaving no room for slow-paced, boring scenes.

Rose disappointed me a little bit in this book. Don't get me wrong, I love Rose. She is an incredible strong and ballsy character who is willing to take insane risks and sacrifice herself for others, however her relationship with Dimitri in this book brought out a side of Rose that I cannot commend. The main action I am referring to (which I will not explain, so as not to spoil the story) resulted in me losing some respect for Rose. I still think she is an amazing character, but what she did was unfair to one party, whom I adore.

I loved Lissa's development in this book aswell. After having Rose taken away from her and put into a very dangerous position, Lissa grows a backbone and works towards finding a solution to Rose's problematic situation. She is really strong throughout this book, and her intellect shines through as well, in various challenges she faces. I have always loved Lissa, she is kind, passionate and caring, but I really admire her determination in strength in this book.

The ending was good and bad. I liked where Rose had ended up, but I feel it was a little sugar-coated on her side, and then a lot of the side characters were ignored. I really want to know what happened to everyone else! And I guess that is a main reason for me wanting to get into Bloodlines.

Book Blogger Hop (4)

Hosted by Crazy for Books

“It’s time to spread some love beyond the borders of the Book Blogger Hop! This week, we aren’t answering a question. We are spotlighting our fellow bloggers. Find your favorite(s) author interview(s), guest post(s), book review(s), or bookish article(s) that ANOTHER BOOK BLOGGER featured on their site recently and tell us why you love it/them! As an additional challenge, find your favorite one of EACH of the categories above and spotlight all 4 (interview, guest post, review, article).”

I have selected a bookish article from The Book Rat:

Excerpt: The Near Witch

At The Book Rat this month, Misty has decided to post about "supernatural/paranormal + quirky/oddball" topics for Helluva Halloween where she will be posting at least twice a day on different bookish things to do with the themes mentioned above. Some of these posts include:

+ Giveaways
+ Excerpts
+ Reviews
+ Interviews

I chose the excerpt posted on The Near Witch because I think the passage chosen is so gripping and spooky! It makes me want to pick up the book all the more and the creepy-ness is so Halloween-like, which is suitable for the month. 

Check out The Book Rat! She also posts videos on YouTube, which I live, including her Book Chat videos which are a great way to discuss different book related topics. 

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Video review of Across the Universe. Further book details and a quick review overview is located below the video, if you just want an idea of what I thought about the book.





Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Released: January 11, 2011
Series: Across the Universe Series [Book One]
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 398
Source: Purchased
Buy it: Book Depository (free shipping) | Amazon

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

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Review Overview:
Wonderfully written. Amazing characters, plotline and mystery element throughout the entire novel, leaving me in suspence and then completely astounded as the truth unravelled.

Just an incredible book. Pick it up and read it. Now.

BBW: Virtual Read-Out [The Hunger Games]

Banned Books Week; 24 Septmber - 1 October, 2011.


For more information, check out the Banned Books Week and ALA websites.



If you have a virtual read-out, please send me a link! I would love to watch :)