Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Release Date: October 23, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: Library

Summary

Is death the end . . . or only the beginning?

Ethan Wate has spent most of his life longing to escape the stiflingly small Southern town of Gatlin. He never thought he would meet the girl of his dreams, Lena Duchannes, who unveiled a secretive, powerful, and cursed side of Gatlin, hidden in plain sight. And he never could have expected that he would be forced to leave behind everyone and everything he cares about. So when Ethan awakes after the chilling events of the Eighteenth Moon, he has only one goal: to find a way to return to Lena and the ones he loves.

Back in Gatlin, Lena is making her own bargains for Ethan's return, vowing to do whatever it takes -- even if that means trusting old enemies or risking the lives of the family and friends Ethan left to protect.

Worlds apart, Ethan and Lena must once again work together to rewrite their fate, in this stunning finale to the Beautiful Creatures series. (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

The Caster Chronicles series is one of my favorite paranormal series. I have been a huge fan ever since Beautiful Creatures came out in 2009 and have eagerly anticipated this last book for years. So did it meet my expectations? Mostly yes.

Waiting on Wednesday: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Publish Date: September 10, 2013

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

*I saw this on two friends' WoWs last week. I am now obsessed with this book. It sounds absolutely perfect!

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library

Summary

One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

A fortunate consequence of my reluctance to read Divergent was that Insurgent was already out by the time I picked up Divergent. I tore through Divergent in two days and was able to read Insurgent immediately. I almost wish I'd waited until Allegiant is released in October 2013.

Manga Mondays #148: Swan vol. 6 by Kyoko Ariyoshi

Manga Mondays Meme

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog almost 3 years ago. It started out as a personal feature, but I decided to turn it into a meme last year. There are quite a few people who do Manga Mondays. I don't claim by any means that I owned or created the idea of Manga Mondays - it's an obvious choice given the alliteration. I think a meme is a great way for everyone to publicize their own Manga Mondays and get a little more publicity.

The linky will be below my review.

Swan vol. 5 by Kyoko Ariyoshi

Summary

As the only exception to the Japan Ballet Association's scholarship program, underdog dancer Hijiri Masumi trains hard every day with other students who have all won the right to train under the best dance instructors. Because Masumi's technique leaves much to be desired, master instructor and genius dancer Alexei Sergeiev demands that she return to the basics to improve her technique. Masumi practices diligently, so that she will be chosen as one of three student performers in the Japan Ballet Company's special performance in Moscow. Eventually, some of the ballet students depart for various destinations around the world to further their dance careers. As Alexei leaves for Moscow, he reminds her once again to master the basics, because her journey has just begun. Hearing this heartening message, Masumi vows to work hard, and returns to the ballet studio to practice, only to find a handsome new foreign student has arrived. Will this newcomer support her in her quest to develop as a dancer, or will romantic entanglements become an obstacle? (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

*Warning: Potential spoilers. My manga reviews tend to be more of a summary than a review. I find it hard to review manga in the same way I do regular books.

Hijiri annoys me in this volume. Irritation isn't the emotion that I should be feeling. Pity is probably more appropriate. Hijiri has such a low self-esteem. This isn't uncommon in a teenage girl but it manifested itself in so many ways in this volume that I couldn't help roll my eyes.

Feature and Follow Friday #147

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

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Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What sets this Hop apart from others, is our Feature. Each week we will showcase a Featured Blogger, from all different genres and areas. Who is our Feature today? Find out below. Just remember it is required, if you participate, to follow our Features and you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee & Alison Can Read) as a courtesy. How do you follow someone? Well, if you have a preference, state it in your #FF post. A lot of blogs are transitioning to Wordpress in which they do not have the luxury of GFC, so an RSS subscription is appreciated or if you choose an email subscription. If you don't have GFC please state in your post how you would like to be followed.

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Publisher: Tor Teen
Source: Library

Summary

It's been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can't move on.

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they're right, but in Cas's eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.

Now he's seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he's asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong...these aren't just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.

Cas doesn't know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn't deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it's time for him to return the favor. (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

Girl of Nightmares is the sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood. And by sequel, I mean the end. Why is it that so many lackluster series stretch out over three or four novels while some strong series choose to stop at two when the readers clamor for more? On the bright side, Girl of Nightmares is a different yet equally interesting book than its predecessor and ties up all the knots in a satisfying manner.

Waiting on Wednesday: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine!

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Publish Date: December 10, 2013

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

*I came upon this on Goodreads today. The plot sounds original and I'd like to read more sci fi. And what a cover!