Books of Amber

Another cover reveal! This is also by the incredibly talented Ana Correal. Darla's Story is a novelette (60 pages) that will be available for all ebook platforms for $0.99 soon. (November, worst case, but probably much sooner.) It's about everything that happens to Darla between the time the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts and when she meets Alex.

 

 

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Oh goody, as basically no site is free from bully mollycoddling.

 

How can anyone justify going out of their way to appease a group of people who have BEEN PROVEN to be stalkers, harassers and the very thing they claim to be against? All you have to do is Google the site and Foz Meadows's wonderful Huffington Post piece comes up on the first page! 

 

Has Dawid or anyone at BookLikes said anything else about this? They know exactly why so many people left GoodReads to join their site and they should know better than to pat the backs of the very group that spoiled blogging for so many good people.

 

We need clarification from BookLikes ASAP. I don't want to have to leave another site.

There are quite a few tutorials on how to change the layout of your BookLikes blog. I figured it's good to have them all in one post, and I'd like to thank all who put a lot of work into making them so others can enjoy BookLikes. 

I feel lost. If you've known me for a while, then you will know that I am a huge fan of the first three books in the Lux series. I read them back-to-back in December, and I adored them. They weren't perfect or original, but they were fun and steamy and I didn't have to think while reading them. Origin, on the other hand, was almost the complete opposite. There were parts that made me want to ragequit, and I was too busy making comparisons to other books to love this book.Don't break out the pitchforks, guys. I tried to love and adore it, I really did.Full review on Books of Amber

Like the rest of the blogosphere, I was dying to read The Elites. From the cover, to the tagline, to the promise of a badass main character, I was sure this one was going to score with me. Unfortunately, as you can see by the rating, that wasn't the case at all. The Elites was a basic dystopian that has been done time and time again in YA.Full review on Books of Amber

I can honestly say that if I hadn't received this book for review (unsolicited), I probably would have never picked it up. Similarly, if Bout of Books 8.0 hadn't happened, Professor Gargoyle would have been sitting on my TBR bookshelf for many more months to come. One reason for this is that it's a very short book, and I tend to leave short books alone. The second reason is that the cover is holographic, and when I first saw the cute looking teacher change to what looked like something from The Demon Headmaster, I yelped in surprise/fear, jumped back, and hit my head on the wall. I've been holding a grudge for months now.Full review on Books of Amber

I usually wait a couple of days before I rate books, but fuck that. ALL TIME FAVOURITE, I AM BROKEN SEND IMMEDIATE HELP

Good For You is a book that I had both been dying to read, and very hesitant about. You see, I have a tendency to grow attached to characters, and I knew that Emma (the main protagonist from the first two books in this series) wasn't going to be the MC in this book. Instead, the focus is on Reid and his love interest, Dori.Full review on Books of Amber

I have absolutely nothing good to say about The End Games, so if you're a fan of this novel then I suggest you turn back now if you think you're going to be offended. I went into this novel expected to adore these two brothers while they helped each other survive the zombie apocalypse. You all know how I love my sibling relationships. But after finishing this book, I just feel underwhelmed and rather empty.Full review on Books of Amber

I've had Don't Turn Around for just under a year now, and I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I wasn't writing a recap for Recaptains. I don't know, it just never really appealed to me to the extent of having to pick it up RIGHT NOW. Some books do that to me, you know? It turns out that my intuition (that I never knew I had, mind you) was completely on target with this book. It's okay, it's good, it's average. Nothing in particular stands out to me, but I did enjoy it.The book is told from a couple of points of view, the most prominent being those of Noa and Peter. Out of the two, Noa is definitely my favourite. Peter was very bland, and to be honest I don't care about what happens to him. He could walk off the face of the Earth and I wouldn't notice. For a supposedly smart computer hacker, Peter did a lot of stupid things. He wasn't appealing in the slightest.Noa is everything a great female protagonist should be: intelligent, quick-witted, interesting. I really enjoyed gradually learning about her backstory, and how she came to look after herself. There is a good chunk of information on what Noa's life was like growing up, which Gagnon covered really well. The only negative - and I don't think it even counts as a negative - for Noa is that she was missing that spark that would have made me adore her. She's forgettable, and she's already moulding in with the rest of the "just good" YA characters for me.There is a lot of action in this short book, which worked well with the feel and the pacing of the novel. There were only a couple of slow moments, which I didn't really mind because it was realistic for the characters to have a few hours to cool down until they were back to being chased by crazy people again.I was also grateful for the lack of romance. I was expecting instalove between Noa and Peter, I must admit. And while there was something there between them (although some people might try to tell you otherwise), it was hardly even relevant. It didn't annoy me, and to be honest I completely ignored it. Since Peter is so dull, it was easy to do so.Don't Turn Around didn't seem very mysterious to me. While the characters were running around chasing their own tails, I was ten steps ahead of them and frowning at the pages. I thought it was pretty obvious what the bad guys were up to, and what their whole mission was. I was hoping to be shocked. Alas.Can I just point out that Noa has a Guardian Angel kind of person? BECAUSE SHE DOES AND IT WAS AWESOME AND I HAVE A SHIP. It took me a good 80% of the novel to actually get to that point, but once she met the person who had been looking out for her the entire time, I was gone. And said person isn't even my type. What is going on.The ending of Don't Turn Around was my favourite part. I loved the pacing, and I loved meeting the mysterious protector (hello, new ship!) and the very last scene gave me chills. If it wasn't for that ending, I doubt I'd be picking up the sequel to this book. But the ending did happen, and it was great, so I'm actually really looking forward to Don't Look Now. I wish I could say it was for more reasons than my ship and Noa's badassery, but that would be lying to you and I don't do that.This review has also been posted on Books of Amber.Follow me on Twitter: @booksofamber

My Twitter followers are aware that this book gave me many feels, but in the interest of preserving what little dignity I have left, I shall try to make this review as serious and professional as possible... Okay, that was an outright lie. Who did you think you were talking to? My feelings for Burn for Burn were nowhere near as intense as the emotional breakdown that Fire with Fire caused. The last time I liveblogged like that, I believe, was when I was reading Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris, and that book has scarred me for life. If you can believe it, Fire with Fire is superior to Burn for Burn in several aspects. I still pretty much love both books equally, though, just for different reasons.There was less of a revenge plot in this book, which is kind of what I was expecting after the ending of Burn for Burn. Surely the girls couldn't continue with their scheming after seriously injuring Reeve? But I was very wrong. They could definitely continue with their scheming, they just had to go about it differently. And the new method was to go after Reeve's heart.Which brings me to the topic that I have been dying to rave about, and that I'm sure you've all been holding your breath for: Reeve and Lillia.Well, now I'm just under too much pressure and I don't know how to form a proper sentence. They. Are. LEGIT. Or, rather, they were a ship in Burn for Burn, but in Fire with Fire they quickly sky-rocketed to OTP status. Their relationship is a complicated one. If you've read Burn for Burn then you'll know that Reeve has feelings for Lillia, but he suppressed them and kept them a secret because of the whole Guy Code. Basically, he did it for Alex because Reeve is secretly an amazing friend and I cannot. Anyway, yes, Lillia and Reeve gave me FEELINGS and I ended up word vomiting all over Twitter.I cried several times. I know, it's shocking, right? I never cry! *shifty eyes* I just couldn't handle the heartbreak, especially when Lillia went through an inner struggle of staying loyal to the cause, or staying loyal to her heart. Oh my god, these two make me say totally cheesy things. I'm sorry.There was some Reeve character development in there, which I had been hoping for ever since I finished Burn for Burn. With the third book, I'm crossing my fingers for even more of that, because he has a long way to go, and I also NEED some backstory regarding him and Mary. So far, we only have Mary's point of view, but I want Reeve's take on the matter.This kind of brings me onto Mary, who was doing my nut in (I'm leaving this in for Christina, mwahaha). She's clearly not right in the head, and needs some serious help. I am a bit worried about everyone's safety when it comes to her, to be honest. Anyway, I don't like whiny or depressing characters, and Mary dished out the sadness in spades. I mean, sure, she had a horrible time when she was younger, but can I please have a break from the sob story? I realise that I'm not being very sympathetic, but meh. I can't help not caring.I don't really have much to say about Kat. She didn't leave a huge impact on me either way in this one, although I enjoyed reading about her relationship with her mother, and what she went through when her mother was sick. Something I didn't like, however, was how quick she was to accept Rennie back into her life, in one way or another. That's all I'm going to say on the matter due to spoilers, but it was frustrating.The ending of this book confused me greatly. It was suspenseful and shocking and awesome, but some bits confused me. Most of my confusion revolves around Mary, who I still suspect is off her rocker, but the authors are doing a pretty good job of trying to trick me into thinking she's some sort of witch or poltergeist. That's just a theory, though, don't worry. Some really weird paranormal-esque stuff happens and I can't tell if it's all in Mary's mind or not, since, you know, she is the one narrating those bits and unreliable narrators yadda yadda yadda.I strayed off topic a bit there, but yes. The ending was confusing and I need to reread it when I get a hard copy of the book because I WILL FIGURE THIS OUT, DAMMIT.I'll be re-reading this one a few times because a) I plan on writing down all the clues and making sense of them and b) I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF REEVE AND LILLIA. It also helps that I was imagining Reeve to look like Gannicus. *swoons*This review has also been posted on Books of Amber.Follow me on Twitter: @booksofamberSubscribe to my Youtube Channel: AmberPepper

Once again, Kasie West has captivated me. I read Pivot Point back in January, and went on to push it towards everyone I came into contact with. I've been waiting a good six months for The Distance Between Us to be released, eagerly anticipating West's first contemporary novel, and I can gladly announce that it was well worth the wait!Full review on Books of Amber

I enjoyed it just as much the second time around! This time I'll be able to write a review. Yay!

I don't know where to start with this review. I have a problem with words when it comes to All Our Yesterdays, because it was so bloody awesome that it left me speechless. I fucking love time travel. I cannot express my love, even with swear words. There are no words.Full review on Books of Amber

Is it just me, or do Shan's third books tend to be the worst in every series? I'm pretty sure I disliked the third books in both the Demonata series, and the Saga of Darren Shan, a lot more than the rest of the books. That's not to say I didn't enjoy them, but they weren't as great. This is such a funny trend.Full review on Books of Amber

I went into Room knowing very little about it. As you may know, I don't read synopses of books that I haven't read, nor do I tend to read reviews unless they're from a trusted source. I like to go in with a completely clean slate. So when I started this and discovered it's told from a young child's perspective, I was a bit thrown off. But in a good way, I promise.Full review on Books of Amber