Reading Rainbow: Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Chances are you've already heard about Hourglass by Myra McEntire. If you haven't, however, then I'm THRILLED to get to be the one to introduce you to it. (In fact, I'm SO THRILLED that I'm using a lot caps. I'm just gonna apologize right now, because I know there are more caps to come.) I was lucky enough to read it a few months ago and could barely contain my desire to shout at all of you to GO PREORDER IT!! RIGHT AWAY!! BECAUSE OMGWTFBBQ IT'S AWESOME!

Since we don't like to make y'all wait too long, I managed to rein in my excitement. I didn't want to be a tease. BUT, people! Hourglass releases June 14th! SO I CAN FINALLY TALK ABOUT MY LOVE FOR THIS BOOK.

There are plenty of reasons to love the main character, Emerson Cole. She's smart, funny, and strong. But we expect that in our MC's these days, right? What's new? Well, for starters, she's also tragic and fragile and not in the least bit weak. She's realistically complex. No one is strong all the time, and no one goes through major losses without bearing some scars. Losing your parents at a young age and seeing visions of dead people can do that to a girl.

The dead people is where Hourglass goes from standard YA Paranormal Romance to Awesome New Idea of Shiny Wonder: Emerson isn't seeing ghosts. She's seeing actual slips in time, viewing people and places that have somehow managed to bleed through from the past and into the present. My first thought was "Sci-Fi Time Travel Romance, minus Christopher Reeve? OH HECK YEAH!" (Pardon my Somewhere in Time reference. I feel old now.)

But what of the romance? I have a very well-known bias, and let's just say that there are two specimens of hotness in this book that keep the romance alive as well. First up, there's Michael. I like to imagine that Michael looks like this:

TeamMichaelFTW

Then, there's Kaleb. I like to imagine Kaleb looks like this:

I guess I understand why SOME people are TeamKaleb

Of course, when I imagine these things, I picture Emerson to look like this:

What? WHAT?

ANYWAY, moving on, please just trust me that Hourglass is an amazing read. It's unique, well-crafted, and filled with action and romance. It sucks you in and gets you really invested in Emerson's story. And Emerson has quite the story.

Now, as I mentioned above, I was lucky enough to read this book months ago. I loved it so much that I preordered it anyway! See?

I hear the cover is SHINY. OOOOOH, SHINY EMERSON IS SHINY.

I don't want to keep it to myself, however, so we're having a giveaway! Leave a comment telling me how you feel about time travel (Cool idea? Awful idea? We make our own destinies so it doesn't matter? Only advisable with a Time Lord?) and we'll enter you to win this pre-order! So, hurry up, because you have until June 12th to enter. We'll pick a winner on June 13th. Good luck!!

You can find Myra McEntire here: http://myramcentire.blogspot.com/ (She has some AWESOME giveaways going on, too!)

Reaing Rainbow: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

I love summer with all of the YA new releases! I just finished a great book that was released yesterday, so you will not have to wait! This is good news because Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini is a book that you do not want to have to wait for.

From Goodreads:

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

I really loved the way this book brought Greek mythology into the story, but didn't make it the main attraction. It served well as the base of the action, but the story didn't get lost within it. Don't get me wrong, I love Greek myth, and I love it even more when it's woven into a modern-day love story. Starcrossed does this so well, and packs in some action along the way.

It's hard to talk about this book without giving too much away, and because things are revealed in such an intriguing way, I definitely don't want to spoil it for you. Helen, for example. I loved her character and the way that she was revealed to us, slowly and from the outside-in, was perfect. She is learning about herself as the reader learns it, and it is fun to go on that journey of discovery with her. And the things she learns! Ah, but no spoilers, so I'll stop.

The other thing I loved about this book is the way that it surprised me. Instead of going the predictable way, the story changed courses many times throughout. I also liked that it didn't always turn towards the most dramatic and dangerous path, but a more realistic one. Well, as realistic as you can get when you're talking about descendants of Greek gods and goddesses.

So, if you're looking for something a little off the beaten path, but still familiar in that YA Love Story kind of way, definitely grab Starcrossed to get your summer reading started! I will say that this book ended with a bit of a cliffhanger, but the cliff was not too high, so I felt okay with it. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series already!

Reading Rainbow: Vampire Crush by A. M. Robinson

I have a fun book to share this week! Leigh took a vacation recently and actually read books! (She's been busy on her WIP lately so hasn't had much time for reading. Poor girl!) So when she sent me a while she was on a cruise to tell me to read Vampire Crush by A. M. Robinson, I downloaded it immediately.




From Goodreads:

I swear, my life was always totally normal.

Normal house, normal family, normal school. My looks are average, I don't have any superpowers, no one's showing up to tell me I'm a princess—you get the picture. But when my junior year started, something not normal happened. There were new kids at school . . . new kids with a wardrobe straight out of a 19th-century romance novel, and an inexplicable desire to stay at school until sundown.

And on top of that, James Hallowell showed up. James, who stole my sandwiches in fourth grade and teased me mercilessly through middle school. James, who now seems to have the power to make my heart race any time he comes near.

But something weird is going on. Because James rarely goes out during the day. And he seems stronger than your typical guy. And he knows the new kids, all of whom seem to be harboring some kind of deep secret. .

Leigh knows me very well. I loved this book and it was perfect for my mood at the time. I wanted something light but not boring, and funny, but not overdone. When I first heard the word, "vampire," I was a bit skeptical. I'm a little bit over vampire books these days. (Not over, really, just taking a break...) I was even more nervous when the main character first notices a group of new kids... in the cafeteria. Yeah. But, BUT, everything shifts from there and Vampire Crush proved itself to be a fun, and definitely not redundant, vampire book!

My favorite thing about this book was the voice of the main character, Sophie. She's extremely driven, but has a great sense of humor alongside of her intense personality. She's a jeans and tee-shirt kind of girl, and makes no apologies for it, even with her stepsister constantly berating her for her lack of style. And, of course, there is James. He's dreamy, but Sophie's not the type to swoon over him, or any of the new kids, for that matter. She's logical, and I love that she did not just run into dangerous situations without showing a normal amount of fear. (It's kind of a pet peeve of mine when MCs do that, if you haven't noticed.)

So, if you're looking for a great little book to start your summer reading off, definitely pick up Vampire Crush! I promise it's a fun read!

Reading Rainbow: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Oh my goodness, y'all. Okay, first, I apologize for the late-week edition of Reading Rainbow. I had another post started for a great book (soon to be posted!), but I was distracted this week by my reading of Divergent by Veronica Roth. This is not only an ignore-your-blog kind of book, but it's also an ignore-your-children/husband/dogs/life kind of book. So, yes, I loved it.

From Goodreads:
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I'm going to be honest: When I first heard about Divergent, I yawned a little and thought, "Another dystopian book... can it really surprise me?" Uh... YES! It can. It did. I know I'm a dystopian-lover, so maybe I'm biased, but this is definitely an amazing book.

The main character, Tris (or Beatrice) is so great. Yes, I'm gushing, but she is one seriously bad-ass Chick Who Can Kick Your Ass. She doesn't start out that way, but she does start very brave. Her courage and heart are what make her great, and those are central to the book as a whole.

And then there is the love story within (of course!). It's so well done and quite beautiful, in my opinion. I can't even talk about the first kissy-scene without wanting to go back and read it again. It's that good. And that is all I'm going to say about that for fear of revealing too much. Or maybe I just want to go back and read it again RIGHT NOW....

So, if you're wondering if you should tackle yet another dystopian YA novel, wonder no more. Just read it. And then come back and tell me what you think... and if you loved the kissy-scene too. *winks*

Reading Rainbow: White Cat & Red Glove by Holly Black

If you're like me, you've picked up White Cat about 100 times and thought about buying it, but for some insane reason, didn't. I was WRONG not to have read Holly Black's amazing books sooner! Thankfully, Sophie and Ashley talked me into it, and I am now fully in love with Cassel and cannot wait for the next book to come out!






From Goodreads (on White Cat):

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.
Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

Honestly, I think it was the mobster/con artist thing that turned me off in the past. I was worried I'd have a hard time liking a character who conned people, but that turned out to be one of the more interesting aspects of the books. Cassel's ability to con and the descriptions of how it all works out are fascinating.


And, as far as finding a likeable character? Well, I love Cassel so much that I, along with Sophie, have made a new word: Casselishness. Trust me, you will love Cassel and all of his Casselishness as well. He has secured his place on my list of favorite book-boyfriends, to be sure. Also, I love finding books written from the male point of view that are done well, and these books are exceptional in that regard.

In addition to all of the Casselishness are the great stories at the heart of these books. Holly Black is an amazing writer, and reminds me of Cassandra Clare in the way she likes to toy with our emotions through her main character. I suffered from a major heart-ache during my reading (not saying where or why!), and definitely had a book-hangover after I finished. Nothing else could compare.

So, if you've thought about reading these books and haven't yet - do so! And then come back and let me know what you think!

Lazy Book Club: You Pick!

Hi Everyone! After our last Lazy Book Club, I promised we would read something a bit more fun. Delirium was a heavy read so I think we should follow it up with one of my favorite writers - John Green. His books are hilarious, but also meaningful and thought-provoking. But, here's the thing: I cannot decide which book! I love them all too much, so I'm leaving it up to you.

I've put a handy little poll at the top of the sidebra (see it over there?) and am hoping that you'll help me pick next month's LBC book. Just to be honest, I think Looking for Alaska is the one I would not pick, but only because it's a bit more heavy, and maybe even depressing. It's brilliant, but not the happiest book ever. But, it's up to you all! So go on, vote and let your LBC voice be heard! And thanks for helping me pick!

You can check out John Green's books here: www.johngreenbooks.com