The Cover Wars: White Cat

Rea of Rea's Reading and Reviews and I decided to get together to do a weekly meme where we would compare covers of the UK editions of books with those of the US editions.

The aim of this is to just have a bit of fun. We put ourselves in the position where we see both of these books side by side in the bookstore. Which would we choose? Why that one and not the other?

This week, we will be comparing the UK and US covers of White Cat by Holly Black. This was the first book I read from holly black and once I read this, I just wanted to read more of hers.

The First book is the US version and the Second one is the UK
version.

Tara says: The US one has the main character holding a white cat and that’s pretty much all I can say about that cover. The UK cover has a cartoon cat, a brilliant choice of font for the title and also a bit of the cover looks like it’s crumpled up – but this is just an optical effect, it hasn’t really. With all of that together on the UK version I have to go with UK.

Rea says: There’s no contest again here. The US cover is ok, I guess, but the UK one wins hands down. Do I even need to explain why? The crumpled paper look, the cartoon cat, the fun font. Seen side by side, I’d not even spare the US cover a second glance. UK for me.

Score: 

Week 15:      US: 2    UK: 8    Draw: 4

Do you want to join in too? Here’s how:

Step 1: Copy and paste the Cover Wars image.

Step 2: Copy and paste our intro or write your own but it must link back to both of our blogs.

Step 3: Copy and paste the US and UK cover images.

Step 4: Compare the two.

Step 5: Either use our score or keep your own score.

Step 6: Post it and share it!

Thanks and have fun!

Review of The Emerald City by J.A. Beard

Description 
In this loose re-imagining of the Wizard of Oz, Kansas teen Gail Dorjee has tried to escape from the pain of her parents' death by retreating into a hard shell of anger and sarcasm.

When her aunt and uncle ship her off to an elite Seattle boarding school, Osland Academy, she spends her first day making enemies, including the school's most powerful clique, the Winged, and their leader, the ruthless Diana.

Social war and the school's uptight teachers are only mild annoyances. Mysterious phone outages, bizarre behavioral blocks, and strange incidents suggest Osland is focused on something much more sinister than education.

Now Gail has to survive at Osland with a pretty pathetic assortment of potential allies: her airhead roommate, a cowardly victim of the Winged, and Diana's cold but handsome boyfriend, Nick.

My Thoughts

I heard about this in a group called Basically Books on goodreads which I am part of, as a sort of thing which you can get free copies of a book as long as you read it within a certain time frame and you review it. I really love the cover and the fact you see something of which will happen in the book, its makes you curious on what is going to happen as well. The title of the books is really really interesting as Emerald is the colour green and green is my favourite colour so it makes me want to read it even more :D.

I really loved this book for many reasons. One reason is I have never ever ever read a book like this ever before. This book is unique and completely new to me so I loved reading it as I did finish this in 2 days because it was that good. I think if the book was longer and more detail was in it, it would of been even better but no matter what it was a good book. The style of writing and the pace of the book was perfect and easy to read and understand. The POV is centred around Gail the main girl character.

Gail is a girl who is still getting over the death of her parents and the fact she is being sent to a boarding school. I really liked her a lot, because her sarcasm and strange attitude is what made this book different, because normally in books the girls are perfect and they have had no bad luck until now, if you get what i mean but with Gail she has had a very bad past months or so.
Diana was mean, horrible and I hated her, but as the book goes on and the story is told you find out more about her.
Nick, is one strange guy who I really wanted to know more about as the book went on. When I turned my kindle off or breaks or to go to sleep all I could think of was "I want to know more about Nick". So as the book goes on, you do find out why he is who he is and why he acts so cold.
Gail's friends are amazing and I like how different all 3 are. Gail is sarcastic and strange, one of her friends is shy and nervous all the time and the other is so happy and hyper. I like how when you put all 3 together you have an amazing friendship.
The teachers in this book are so mysterious as well and I just wanted to slap a few of them for them being so ignorant on the bullying side of it. As the book goes on the more you find out about the teachers.

My overall opinion of this book is, I loved it so much but wished it could of went on for longer :)
I recommend this book to everyone who loves an easy read with a great storyline :)

Tara

Rating: 

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Q: Have you had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then “broke up” with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her.


A: Nat in Entangled by Cat Clarke was a great character until you go further into the book, and find out stuff about what he has done. I really was disappointed in him :( 

So what about all of you? Do you have a character you're disappointed with?




Follow me and give a link to your blog and I will follow you back :) 

Get A Taste: Archangel's Consort

Rea of Rea's Reading and Reviews and I often read very different books but sometimes find interesting new books to potentially add to the ever-growing monsters that our TBR piles have morphed into. However, we know that we do not have 100% the same taste and we wanted another way of getting a look at these books...

Do you ever feel like getting a bit of a taster for a book you’ve been thinking of reading but aren’t fully sold on yet? Do you feel like sharing a taster for your current read with the world? Well, here’s your chance.

Each week the random number generator will pick a number between 1 and 100 for books with pages or 1 and 25% for ebooks. We figured that these numbers would keep us out of spoiler territory. Open your book to the specified place and pick a paragraph. Share it with the world!

This week its: 
Page number: 36
Kindle/ebook: 15%


My Teaser:

'Elena touched her hand to Luca's shoulder as she passed, intending to check out the primary scene one more time. 
"Hey, Ellie." When she glanced back, he said, "It's good to have you back, notwithstanding the circumstances."
The words, the quiet acceptance, meant everything. "I haven't forgotten I owe you a drink."
"It's two now --- interest's a bitch."'


This is a 3rd in a series and I loved it so much :) it's a great adult book and it was an easy read :) 


Do you want to join in too? Here’s how:

Step 1: Copy and paste the Get A Taste image.
Step 2: Copy and paste our intro or write your own but it must link back to both of our blogs.
Step 3: Find the designated page for the week.
Step 4: Type out a paragraph or so from your book.
Step 5: Post it and share it!

We would appreciate it if you'd leave a comment letting us know where we can find your post. We'll be sure to pop on by and leave a comment!
Thanks and have fun!

The Cover Wars: The Book Thief

Rea of Rea's Reading and Reviews and I decided to get together to do a weekly meme where we would compare covers of the UK editions of books with those of the US editions.

The aim of this is to just have a bit of fun. We put ourselves in the position where we see both of these books side by side in the bookstore. Which would we choose? Why that one and not the other?

This week, we will be comparing the UK and US covers of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This book is one of my favourites. I didn't think I would like it, its not my usual taste, but it was brilliant :).

The First book is the US version and the Second one is the UK
version.

Tara says: This is so easy for me. The US one is good, but boring and doesn’t really capture my attention. The UK one is amazing, I love the fact the cover is all crumpled up and old fashioned to go with the fact this story is set during World War 2. UK has won for me. 

Rea says: This is another case where I have a clear favourite. I do like the imagery of the US cover with the dominoes that are all about to set off a chain reaction. But it just doesn’t hold a candle to the UK cover art. That image of Liesel dancing with Death is one my favourite cover images ever. It is so very poignant and expresses so much in so very little. UK all the way.

Score: 

Week 14:      US: 2    UK: 7    Draw: 4

Do you want to join in too? Here’s how:

Step 1: Copy and paste the Cover Wars image.

Step 2: Copy and paste our intro or write your own but it must link back to both of our blogs.

Step 3: Copy and paste the US and UK cover images.

Step 4: Compare the two.

Step 5: Either use our score or keep your own score.

Step 6: Post it and share it!

Thanks and have fun!

Review of Beautiful Sins: Leigha Lowery (The Thaneaddus Chronicles #1) by Jennifer Hampton

Description 
In the year 2025, the U.S. is severely suffering, divided over an a military experiment gone terribly wrong, blocking the sun over the entire western coast. Patricia Lowery, a single mother from Detroit decides to make an impulse decision and marries a successful doctor from Banks, Oregon. She pulls her only daughter, Leigh Lowery along into the Dark Coast, disregarding the rumors of monstrous creatures and high murder rate to live a life of wealth, instead of the poverty they left behind. However, with the sunless days, they begin to discover that there is a price to their wealth... Alexander Madden, Bank's high most beautiful, wealthy, and prominent boy in school has taken a fascination to Leigh and quickly pulls her into the world of vampires, werewolves, witches, and many other creatures that have decided to claim the Dark Coast as their home. But he's not the only thing that's taken a fascination to her.

(I'm sorry but I wont be able to make the reviews as long as I would normally)


My Thoughts
My sister read this and loved it, so when I saw it free on amazing I quickly got it. The description sounds brilliant, it seems right up my street on what I like to read. The title seems really intriguing to me, so that also helped me want to read it. The cover, I'm not sure with, its a little to dark and boring maybe. (It's only blurry because its the only picture I could find).

I loved this book, the way I read it so quickly because the words just flew from the pages and into my head. I understood everything that happened. The emotions in this book made me feel just like the main character Leigh feels. She goes through a lot in this book. From being moved somewhere house, starting a new school, making new friends and discovering more about her and what is around her.

I felt like jumping into this book myself to help her out, or to warn her about things that happen. The way this story grabbed me from the start to the finish was amazing :)
The characters in this book was well portrayed and I loved them all :)
Leigha is a wonderful smart  and brave girl. Her mother is interestting and kind. Randy is intriging and kind and Alexander is hot, a mystery to me and I guess nice. 

In my opinion this book was amazing, and if its still free on amazing GO AND GET IT, and even if you have to pay for it..... GO AND GET IT :D
I recommend this book to anyone who loves a short book, with an amazing storyline :)

Tara

Rating:

Follow Friday 13

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Q: Fight! Fight! If you could have two fictional characters battle it out (preferably from books), who would they be and who do you think would win?

A: Well I looked on my goodreads read 2012 to think about this and came up with, Raven from Halflings and Rían from Carrier of the Mark. They book act tough and all that, in my opinion so I would love for them to fight, and I have a feeling Raven will win, but it will be a close call. 

So what about all of you?  Do you have two fictional characters you would love to see fight it out ? 




Follow me and give a link to your blog and I will follow you back :) 

Get A Taste: Room

Rea of Rea's Reading and Reviews and I often read very different books but sometimes find interesting new books to potentially add to the ever-growing monsters that our TBR piles have morphed into. However, we know that we do not have 100% the same taste and we wanted another way of getting a look at these books...

Do you ever feel like getting a bit of a taster for a book you’ve been thinking of reading but aren’t fully sold on yet? Do you feel like sharing a taster for your current read with the world? Well, here’s your chance.

Each week the random number generator will pick a number between 1 and 100 for books with pages or 1 and 25% for ebooks. We figured that these numbers would keep us out of spoiler territory. Open your book to the specified place and pick a paragraph. Share it with the world!

This week its: 
Page number: 54
Kindle/ebook: 21%


My Teaser:



'"I can be quiet," she says, she's nearly whispering, I hear her breath all scratchy. "You know how quite I can be, so long as you leave him alone. It's all I've ever asked."
Old Nick snorts, "You ask for stuff every time I open the door."'


I read this book when I first got my kindle, which was Christmas. I got hooked on my kindle and this book straight away. It's an amazing book, and I just loved it :) I have a review on my blog somewhere :) 




Do you want to join in too? Here’s how:

Step 1: Copy and paste the Get A Taste image.
Step 2: Copy and paste our intro or write your own but it must link back to both of our blogs.
Step 3: Find the designated page for the week.
Step 4: Type out a paragraph or so from your book.
Step 5: Post it and share it!

We would appreciate it if you'd leave a comment letting us know where we can find your post. We'll be sure to pop on by and leave a comment!
Thanks and have fun!

The Cover Wars: Switched

Rea of Rea's Reading and Reviews and I decided to get together to do a weekly meme where we would compare covers of the UK editions of books with those of the US editions.

The aim of this is to just have a bit of fun. We put ourselves in the position where we see both of these books side by side in the bookstore. Which would we choose? Why that one and not the other?

This week, we will be comparing the UK and US covers of Switched by Amanda Hocking. I have read and liked this book so it was really good for me to compare the book :).

The First book is the US version and the Second one is the UK
version.

Tara says: Another hard one because I really do love them both. The UK version is all grayed out apart from the butterflies so it draws me in. With the US version its red and beautiful. I am going to base this on which I think fits the story better as I have read this book. UK one for me.

Rea says: I like the feeling of foreboding that you get from the wuthering red sky hanging low above the castle on the US cover, but at the same time the image of the girl in the field of flowers in the foreground doesn’t really seem to fit with the background, though I will admit that it is certainly very pretty. The UK cover, though, has this really ephemeral feel to it and I feel that that suits the story better. Also, I can’t resist those gorgeous little butterflies! UK for me.

Score: 

Week 13:      US: 2    UK: 6    Draw: 4

Do you want to join in too? Here’s how:

Step 1: Copy and paste the Cover Wars image.

Step 2: Copy and paste our intro or write your own but it must link back to both of our blogs.

Step 3: Copy and paste the US and UK cover images.

Step 4: Compare the two.

Step 5: Either use our score or keep your own score.

Step 6: Post it and share it!

Thanks and have fun!

Review of Entangled by Cat Clarke

Description
The same questions whirl round and round in my head: What does he want from me? 


How could I have let this happen? 
AM I GOING TO DIE?

17-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with a table, pens and paper - and no clue how she got here.

As Grace pours her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she's tried to forget. There's falling hopelessly in love with the gorgeous Nat, and the unravelling of her relationship with her best friend Sal. But there's something missing.

Grace must face the most important question of all.
Why is she here?

A story of dangerous secrets, intense friendship
and electrifying attraction.

My Thoughts
The first time I heard of this is when it was mentioned in a group I am part of called Basically Books on goodreads. This is the Aprils group read in the group so I was very excited to get to reading it. The cover is interesting and I love the pattern near the title of the book. The title of the book is also very interesting. The only thing which really made me want to read it as soon as was the description.

I am so glad I read this, it was such a breathtaking, amazingly brilliant book. It was somthing completely different to what I have read, as she is telling us what happened but at the same time reminding herself what happened. This book was a emotional coaster for the main character Grace and I just loved the writing style. The storyline is interesting and it was easy to understand once you got used to the style of the writing. This book made me cry because the things that happened could actually happen or has happened in real life, the fact that it made me cry just shows how good Cat Clarke can write. The way the book is, made me a little confused at first but it was easy to slowly grasp your mind around the whole book and start to enjoy it. The POV is mostly around the main character Grace.

Grace is a brilliant girl, and what she goes through is what some teenagers go through, they are growing up and life is hard. She has lost her dad and now her mother is very distant leaving her to do what she wants. She does things she shouldn't do like drink all the time and stuff but what she goes through in this book is so terrifying and I hate that. I think if she has a different life style she wouldn't have gone through what she has gone through.
Ethan is a mysterious person, and we don't know nothing about him until the end when we find out the truth but still he's a weird, creepy guy. All I wanted was to find out more about him.
Nat is a kind guy who respects Grace and doesn't care what she looks like and stuff. He cares for her and helps her out when she needs it, but I kinda guess something was up with him.

Sal is Graces friend who I didn't like to start with, she was quite and smart and then when somthing happened to her she not only turns her life upside down but she takes Grace with her, which I will never forgive her for. (Sorry.. I'm getting really serious here). If she wasn't in the book, most of what happened with Grace wouldn't of happened.

My overall opinion of this book is, I loved it to bits but I didn't like some of the characters. 

I recommend this book to all people who love YA!  :) 

Tara

Rating: 

Follow Friday 12

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Q: What is one book that you would be nervous to see a movie adaption of because you think the movie could never live up to the book

A: I have so many that I would be nervous about, but one of them would be Wither (The Chemical Garden #1) by Lauren DeStefano. I really loved how the book was set out, and the layout of the mansion, but I really wouldn't know how to turn it into an even better or equal movie. I mean it could be good, but I don't know :) 





(PS. If this does come out in the cinema I will be watching it )

So what about all of you? Do you have a book which your nervous about becoming a movie? 




Follow me and give a link to your blog and I will follow you back :) 

Get A Taste: Coexist

Rea of Rea's Reading and Reviews and I often read very different books but sometimes find interesting new books to potentially add to the ever-growing monsters that our TBR piles have morphed into. However, we know that we do not have 100% the same taste and we wanted another way of getting a look at these books...

Do you ever feel like getting a bit of a taster for a book you’ve been thinking of reading but aren’t fully sold on yet? Do you feel like sharing a taster for your current read with the world? Well, here’s your chance.

Each week the random number generator will pick a number between 1 and 100 for books with pages or 1 and 25% for ebooks. We figured that these numbers would keep us out of spoiler territory. Open your book to the specified place and pick a paragraph. Share it with the world!

This week its: 
Page number: 28
Kindle/ebook: 18%


My Teaser:


'Keegan glared at her brother across the table.
He smirked back at her. 
Their father caught the exchange, "Not so fast, son," he said. "You are going to be the one to train her."
Her brother's reaction was priceless. A look of disbelief came over his face and was quickly replaced with the same look her father had whenever he was given a task,, Keegan knew she was in trouble.'




Do you want to join in too? Here’s how:

Step 1: Copy and paste the Get A Taste image.
Step 2: Copy and paste our intro or write your own but it must link back to both of our blogs.
Step 3: Find the designated page for the week.
Step 4: Type out a paragraph or so from your book.
Step 5: Post it and share it!

We would appreciate it if you'd leave a comment letting us know where we can find your post. We'll be sure to pop on by and leave a comment!
Thanks and have fun!

Review of Carrier of the mark (Carrier Trilogy, #1) by Leigh Fallon

Description 

Their love was meant to be. 

When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRÍs.

But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.

My Thoughts 
Well when I first read the description I really loved the sound of it, I also love the cover and how intriguing it looks. I read some reviews and most of them which I read were negative so I was really confused why, so when my sister said she has the book, but wont be reading it, I jumped to the chance to read it.



I really liked this book, It wasn't as bad as people were saying, the only thing which made me rate it lower than I would of was the fact they loved each other pretty much straight away, I knew there is probably a reason, but it still makes me rate it lower. Other than that it was an interesting storyline, I love the fact they have the elements as powers, the pace of the book is very interesting and I loved the style of writing as it was easy to read and understand what was going on. The POV is mostly around Megan the main chacracter.

Megan is such a great girl, she has moved around a lot with her dad and she has been starting new schools for a while now, so when she starts this school she is nervous as usual but I feel she fits in straight away, she meets friends and she also meets a hot dark handsome guy called Adam, who is always looking at her for some reason and she wanted to know. I love how all her friends care for her, wants to know her and hangs around with her, she is never truly alone and I am glad as I love her as a character. She has flaws just like me and you do, but she doest care she lives life to the way she wants to. When her life suddenly changes she has to cope with it all and I feel she copes with the changes very well, and she grow stronger and braver throughout the whole book. This was an amazing character builder.
Adam is so caring, considerate and care free. I loved his character so much and for many reasons. One reason is he cares for Megan straight away without even knowing her very long. I also like his gift which is the water element which means he can breathe and talk underwater and other stuff which I feel is an amazing gift/power. He also sounds very yummy and hot so it helps when picturing the book and stuff.
Áine  is Adams twin and she has the gift of nature which means she bring plants back to life and control other nature based things. I didn't like her at first but she really grew to me and I felt she was an awesome girl and I also felt sorry for her at times.
Rían is there older brother who has the gist of fire, which is also very cool. At first I hated him, hated him more than Aine but I knew there was reasons, and I understood them when I learnt about them. I did grow to like him and I felt overall he is a good character just not as good as Adam.
Fionn is Adams, Aine and Rian's guardian of some sort and he has known about them having gifts from the very start and has helped protect them from evil people. I like him a but I felt he was a bit to controlling for my liking. 

There is more characters but I feel I have the covered the main characters as the book mostly revolve around these 5 characters. 

My overall opinion of this book is I really enjoyed the read and I cant wait until I can read the next in the Trilogy :D 

I recommend this book to all YA lovers and who doesn't get put off with a bad review here and there. 

Tara

Rating:

The Cover Wars: Blood Red Road

Rea of Rea's Reading and Reviews and I decided to get together to do a weekly meme where we would compare covers of the UK editions of books with those of the US editions.

The aim of this is to just have a bit of fun. We put ourselves in the position where we see both of these books side by side in the bookstore. Which would we choose? Why that one and not the other?

This week, we will be comparing the UK and US covers of Blood Red Road by Moira Young.

Note: This book now has a new cover, but we’ve taken the images of the two original covers.

The First book is the US version and the Second one is the UK
version.

Tara says: This is a really hard one because I like them both for different reasons. I like the US version because of the mist and the person who is in the mist. The title is also really good in the US version. I like the UK version because I haven’t really seen a book cover quite like that. I am going to base this on if I walked into a shop and saw both which one would I buy. I would definitely buy the UK version.


Rea says: I’m afraid that in this case the UK cover just doesn’t do much for me at all. I’m not sure what exactly it is about the cover art that puts me off but it really doesn’t appeal to me. The US cover, though, is just… wow! I love the feeling of desolation, of emptiness, of solitude that the artist has managed to convey through a mere image. Even better, it’s so pretty! I love that cover. US for me.

Score: 

Week 12:      US: 2    UK: 5    Draw: 4

Do you want to join in too? Here’s how:

Step 1: Copy and paste the Cover Wars image.

Step 2: Copy and paste our intro or write your own but it must link back to both of our blogs.

Step 3: Copy and paste the US and UK cover images.

Step 4: Compare the two.

Step 5: Either use our score or keep your own score.

Step 6: Post it and share it!

Thanks and have fun!

Follow Friday 11

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I used to this before.. so I decided to try it again.

Q: Have you ever bought a book BECAUSE of a bad review?

A: I don't think I have, But I can say I have read many books which people have hated, but I loved it :) I guess everyone has different tastes :) 


You shouldn't be put of a book just because some people don't like.

So what about all of you? Have you ever bought a book because of a bad review? 




Follow me and give a link to your blog and I will follow you back :) 

Get A Taste: Entangled

Rea of Rea's Reading and Reviews and I often read very different books but sometimes find interesting new books to potentially add to the ever-growing monsters that our TBR piles have morphed into. However, we know that we do not have 100% the same taste and we wanted another way of getting a look at these books...

Do you ever feel like getting a bit of a taster for a book you’ve been thinking of reading but aren’t fully sold on yet? Do you feel like sharing a taster for your current read with the world? Well, here’s your chance.

Each week the random number generator will pick a number between 1 and 100 for books with pages or 1 and 25% for ebooks. We figured that these numbers would keep us out of spoiler territory. Open your book to the specified place and pick a paragraph. Share it with the world!

This week its: 
Page number: 12
Kindle/ebook: 21%


My Teaser:

'I sighed. This wasn't exactly going to plan. "You look tired." It was true. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his skin was sallow.
"You shouldn't worry about me, Grace. How is it going?" He gestured to the desk.

I really have just recently read this, and its completely different to books I have read before, but its great. I love how different it is, I love the storyline. Its a must read if you haven't read it already.




Do you want to join in too? Here’s how:

Step 1: Copy and paste the Get A Taste image.
Step 2: Copy and paste our intro or write your own but it must link back to both of our blogs.
Step 3: Find the designated page for the week.
Step 4: Type out a paragraph or so from your book.
Step 5: Post it and share it!

We would appreciate it if you'd leave a comment letting us know where we can find your post. We'll be sure to pop on by and leave a comment!
Thanks and have fun!