The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

Release Date: June 4, 2013
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Source: BEA

Summary

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough.

Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby.

Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby?

Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going? (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

Sarah Dessen has mastered the art of crafting a quality contemporary romance / family drama novel. Her books are a mixture of substance and fluff - in a good way. The Moon and More is another solid hit.

Manga Mondays #164: Dawn of the Arcana vol. 1 by Rei Toma

Manga Mondays Meme

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 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.

Dawn of the Arcana vol. 1 by Rei Toma

Summary

Princess Nakaba of Senan is forced to marry Prince Caesar of the enemy country Belquat, tantamount to becoming a hostage. While Caesar is pleasing to the eye, he is also selfish and possessive, telling Nakaba outright: “You are my property.” With only her attendant Loki at her side, Nakaba must find a way to cope with her hostile surroundings, her fake marriage...and a mysterious power! (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.

Barnes & Noble does not have the world's best manga selection, but sometimes you can stumble upon something great. I was walking through the section the other day and randomly picked up Dawn of the Arcana. I hadn't heard anything about it. What a great first volume!

Feature and Follow Friday #165

Welcome to the Feature & Follow

---

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.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Release Date: August 31, 2010
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Margaret K. McElderry
Source: Bought

Summary

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them.... (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

I began Clockwork Angel with some trepidation. Could Cassandra Clare pull off a new series set in the same world as The Mortal Instruments? Would The Infernal Devices just be The Mortal Instruments set one hundred years earlier or would the series distinguish itself? I'm pleased to say that I had no reason to be concerned. The Infernal Devices is an entirely separate plot from The Mortal Instruments with fully fledged characters. Clockwork Angel and The Infernal Devices series is as good, perhaps better, than The Mortal Instruments books.

Waiting on Wednesday: Just One Year by Gayle Forman

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

Just One Year by Gayle Forman

Publish Date: October 10, 2013

Publisher: Dutton Children's

I'm sure I've featured this on WoW before, but there's only one month left! I loved Just One Day so much. I can't wait to read the sequel.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Release Date: September 10, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Source: Netgalley

Summary

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? (courtesy of Goodreads.)

Review

There are basic formulas for writing a fantastic book. Certain plot lines, specific character types, a map towards romance... As readers, we all say that we don't like reading overplayed tropes, but oftentimes, they really work. But no matter how well you follow the Awesome Book Formula, it is almost impossible to consciously create the "It" Factor. Neither an author nor a reviewer can adequately describe "It." "It" is an intangible quality that takes a book from great to truly special. The best image I can think of is a warm, buzzing feeling.

Manga Mondays #163: Rosario Vampire vol. 2 by Akihisa Ikeda

Manga Mondays Meme

I've been doing Manga Mondays every week since I started my blog 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.

Rosario Vampire vol. 2 by Akihisa Ikeda

Summary

All-around average teenager Tsukune can't get accepted to any high school save one...but on his first day he finds the rest of the student body doesn't appear average at all. Best of all, the cutest girl on campus can't wait to fling her arms around his neck! Wait a sec'--are those her teeth around his neck too...? Tsukune's going to have one heck of a hickey when he gets home from Monster High! But does he have a chance in H E double hockey sticks of raising his grades at a school where the turf war isn't between the jocks and the nerds but the vampires and the werewolves?

LESSON TWO: WITCHES QUIZ HAVING A WITCH FOR A CLASSMATE CAN CREATE A VEXING HEX SITUATION IF SHE…
a. casts spells stirring up all manner of mischief just to get attention.    
b. has no qualms about using magic to break up you and your girlfriend.
c. becomes the target of a reptilian witchphobic hate group.
d. all of the above. (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.

At what point do you give up on a manga series? I'm pretty quick to drop a series that I'm not enjoying, but what do you do when you can recognize a series' potential, but the volumes have yet to achieve that?