Archives for August 2017

SINCERELY, CEE • A letter from yours truly to Speak Easy, Speak Love & McKelle George

August 17, 2017 Comment : 1

**Dear McKelle George & Speak Easy, Speak Love,**

[quote cite=”Goodreads” url=”www.goodreads.com/book/show/32905343-meddling-kids”]Six teenagers’ lives intertwine during one thrilling summer full of romantic misunderstandings and dangerous deals in this sparkling retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

After she gets kicked out of boarding school, seventeen-year-old Beatrice goes to her uncle’s estate on Long Island. But Hey Nonny Nonny is more than just a rundown old mansion. Beatrice’s cousin, Hero, runs a struggling speakeasy out of the basement—one that might not survive the summer.

Along with Prince, a poor young man determined to prove his worth; his brother, John, a dark and dangerous agent of the local mob; Benedick, a handsome trust-fund kid trying to become a writer; and Maggie, a beautiful and talented singer; Beatrice and Hero throw all their efforts into planning a massive party to save the speakeasy. Despite all their worries, the summer is beautiful, love is in the air, and Beatrice and Benedick are caught up in a romantic battle of wits that their friends might be quietly orchestrating in the background.

Hilariously clever and utterly charming, McKelle George’s debut novel is full of intrigue and 1920s charm. For fans of Jenny Han, Stephanie Perkins, and Anna Godbersen.[/quote]

Comics

COMIC FIRSTS • Redlands #1: Through Sacrifice and Honor

August 14, 2017 Leave a Comment

Comic Firsts

[quote]Comic Firsts, a feature where I talk about the first issues of comics that I’ve bought, received, or borrowed. It’s all about first impressions, what I like or didn’t like about the issue, and whether I would keep reading it beyond the first issue.[/quote]

[quote]A brand-new horror book from the minds of Eisner Award-winner JORDIE BELLAIRE (PRETTY DEADLY, Vision, Batman) and critically acclaimed artist VANESA R. DEL REY (ZERO, Scarlet Witch, Constantine) brings you to the sleepy, sunny town of Redlands, Florida. The police are failing to maintain control of their old-fashioned town, and a coven of killer witches plan to take everything from them. This summer, hide your bibles. — Image Comics[/quote]

You don’t want to be on the bad side of these witches. They’re coming to snatch wigs, prayers, and government jobs.

Nobody can save Redlands now. Or maybe these witches will be doing the saving?

Holy Mother Cover

HOLY, MOTHER COVER! • Changes in Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs

August 11, 2017 Comments : 4

holymothercover

Inspired by What She Reads, Pure Imagination Blog, and Stacked.

I admit I’m a book cover snob. Who isn’t though?

Book covers are the first thing that attracts readers to a book. A good cover can draw someone is, just as a bad cover can easily draw someone away. It can essentially make or break a book. Holy, Mother Cover! is where I showcase the book covers that stand out (or make me cringe), and discuss cover changes.

(A big special thanks to Georgie at What She Reads for bestowing me this fabulous name and to Charlotte at The Simple Tales for creating the beautiful feature banner you see before you.)

Cover Change: Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs

If you had the pleasure of looking at Tales of the Peculiar in person, it is quite a beauty. I love the simplicity of the image, but yet it’s complex because of the detailing in the vines and the leaves. I love how birds, anchors, snakes, fish, etc are intertwined with the branches and vines. If you don’t look closely, you’ll miss the dragon-like claws and creepy eyes hiding in the image. It’s slightly unsettling because you find these creepy things in the cover. The gold looks beautiful against the forest green background. The cover already tells you a story.

The paperback cover is actually a great redesign. The art is very much in the same style of the art you find in the book, so yay for consistency. I love that you can see the lines and the strokes the artist made for this image. Like the hardcover design, this tells you everything you need to know about this book—there are creepy or off-putting stories that will be told. There’s a woman reading to these kids about invisible man and whatnot. There are animals. There are unexpected things that will surely happen in the book in the dead of night.

Final Verdict: What cover do I like better? Hardcover.

Which cover design do you prefer? Would you buy the the hardcover or paperback cover?

Reviews

(ARC) REVIEW • What Goes Up Must Come Down (What Goes Up by Katie Kennedy)

August 9, 2017 Comments : 2

Rosa and Eddie are among hundreds of teens applying to NASA’s mysterious Interworlds Agency. They’re not exactly sure what the top-secret program entails, but they know they want in. Rosa has her brilliant parents’ legacies to live up to, and Eddie has nowhere else to go–he’s certainly not going to stick around and wait for his violent father to get out of jail. Even if they are selected, they have no idea what lies in store. But first they have to make it through round after round of crazy-competitive testing.

And then something happens that even NASA’s scientists couldn’t predict . . .[/note]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from Bloomsbury for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “NASA stored the future in a hangar in Iowa.”

Their lives entire life as lead to this moment: being part of NASA’s mysterious Interworlds Agency.

But first, Rosa and Eddie must compete in a series of tests to determine which teens—among the hundreds—will be appointed to Team 3 and save the world from aliens planning to destroy Earth.

Reviews

(ARC) REVIEW • We Are Not Alone (Love and Other Alien Experiences by Kerry Winfrey)

August 3, 2017 Comment : 1

I’m never going outside again.

Mallory hasn’t left the house in sixty-seven days–since the day her dad left. She attends her classes via webcam, rarely leaves her room (much to her brother’s chagrin), and spends most of her time watching The X-Files or chatting with the always obnoxious BeamMeUp on New Mexico’s premier alien message board.

But when she’s shockingly nominated for homecoming queen, her life takes a surprising turn. She slowly begins to open up to the world outside. And maybe if she can get her popular jock neighbor Brad Kirkpatrick to be her homecoming date, her classmates will stop calling her a freak.

In this heartwarming and humorous debut, Mallory discovers first love and the true meaning of home–just by taking one small step outside her house.[/note]

myreview

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from Macmillan for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “It’s Friday Morning and, as usual, I’m sitting cross-legged on my unmade bed, balancing a bowl of Lucky Charms on my knees and trying not to spill milk on my laptop.”

Plagued by severe anxiety, Mallory Sullivan has been unable to leave her house in sixty-seven days. Not since her dad left her family without a word. Every time she attempts to go outside, she has a panic attack. She’ll rather stay inside on the X-Files message boards—We Are Not Alone—chatting with other fans. How does a girl with a severe case of anxiety get out of the house? For Mallory, it’s when she’s nominated for homecoming queen.

Discussion

TOO MUCH TBR • ARC August 2017 Edition

August 1, 2017 Comments : 4

[note note_color=”#85C0C5″ text_color=”#ffffff”]The annual ARC August is finally here! It’s the fifth year. (Holy shit.) Hosted by Octavia and Shelly of Read. Sleep. Repeat, ARC August is an event that helps readers and bloggers get their ARC pile down. The rules are simply:

You read how many ARCS you want. YOU get to decide.
The book must be an ARC—physical or electronic. The ARC can be old or new ones. As long as it’s an arc, it’s okay.
No blog necessary to participate, but you’ll need to include some form of social media as part of your sign up.
Use the #ARCAugust on social media to check-in.
Have fun!

I urge you to sign up over here, especially if you have ARCs you need to read! [/note]

In this special Too Much TBR post, which is really an ARC August post, my August pile is—excuse my language—a fuck ton. I don’t know how I’m gonna get everything read, but I’m gonna try my hardest. *crosses fingers*

Let’s discuss what books are on my ARC August TBR.

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