Reading Rainbow Giveaway! Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Today's rec is fun because not only am I recommending Sweetly by Jackson Pearce, but we are also giving away a copy!  And not only are we giving away a copy, but a SIGNED copy of Sweetly!  Leigh and I were lucky enough to meet Jackson Pearce at the Decatur Book Festival earlier this month.  She was nice enough to sign a copy of the book for all of you!

She was also nice enough to sit through a photo-shoot FAIL with us in an attempt to get a picture of the three of us together.  We ended up with just Leigh and Jackson posing, while I was trying to explain the workings of the camera to the nice woman who agreed to take our picture.  Still - great picture, yes?

And now, on to Sweetly!

 

From Goodreads: 

Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again.

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel.

Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates, the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

I love fairy-tale re-tellings, and this one was done so well!  It's extremely spooky (just look at that cover), and it certainly made me want to stay away from the woods at night!   I really loved the mystery of the story, and could not wait to figure out what, exactly, was happening in the candy shop.  This book is also set in a small town, and I have a certain weakness for small-town life.  I think it complemented the story well and I loved the setting overall.


And speaking of settings, did I mention that this book is focused around a candy shop?  Oh right, I did.  But, THE CANDY.  Be sure to have some chocolate nearby while you're reading because you'll need it.  The candy is almost it's own character, or an extension of Sophia, and I love the way it plays into the story. 

Rather than give away any other details from the book, let's get on with the actual giveaway!  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite candy!  And, if you want a bonus entry, leave a recipe to make your favorite candy (or variation of), or a link to a recipe will work as well.  My favorite (currently) is the dark chocolate peanut butter cup from Trader Joe's.  I make special trips just to buy them.  


We'll draw a winner Monday, October 2nd!  Good luck! 


**This giveaway is for US residents only.  SO SORRY to our international readers!  We promise to have a big old worldly giveaway soon!**

 

Reading Rainbow: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Let me just get this out - I LOVED THIS BOOK! Seriously, Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick was amazing and completely captivating. I will say, this type of book is exactly what I love - apocalyptic fiction, mysterious, a bit scary, and all with a believable heroine.

From Goodreads:

A cataclysmic event. An army of "The Changed."
Can one teen really survive on her own?

An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky, destroying every electronic device and killing billions. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human...

Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the Changed, Alex meets up with Tom---a young army veteran---and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse.

This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to survive.

This is one of those, "What if?" books that I adore. What if, in an instant, life as we know it ceased to exist? I love that, in Ashes, it is in the present-day when these things happen. It makes it very relatable, and also more than a little scary.

I really loved the heroine in this book, Alex.  She was very Final Girl, in the slasher-film sense.  She is smart, curious, brave but knows when to be afraid, and above all, she is a survivor.  The sense of family (the "improvised family") is also so well done.  I loved the characters and found each of them to be genuine.

I should warn you: this book ends with a fairly high cliff.  It's one of those jaw-dropping moments.  That being said, I think I'm okay with it because the story was just so good.  I am SO VERY ANXIOUS to find out what happens, but I am also content to have read a really great story that has made me think. 

Reading Rainbow: Vanish by Sophie Jordan

Last year I read and recommended Firelight by Sophie Jordan (you can read the rec here). I ended the post by saying that I wanted to learn MORE about the draki. I was completely mystified by the idea of a dragon-ish species living as human. Well, I'm very happy to say that Sophie Jordan must have read my rec (hah!) because she delivered in Vanish, the sequel to Firelight.

From Goodreads:

To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.

Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?

In bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever

*SPOILER ALERT* If you haven't read Firelight yet, this post might have spoilers! I won't spoil anything from Vanish, but I can't promise to be spoiler-free for Firelight!

Okay, I'm jut going to go ahead and say it: I liked this book BETTER than it's predecessor! Perhaps that is because I loved the world-building in this book - rather than being set in a typical town, this is mainly set in the home of the pride. I loved learning about the details of each draki and how they all added something to the pride. And the flying! Hello, that was awesome. It was so great to see Jacinda letting herself be who she truly is inside. I loved that.

And, if that all wasn't enough, you'll find a ton of action and suspense in this book. There are beautiful moments (KISSY SCENES!), but there are also moments that will have have your heart pumping in anticipation or, in my case, worry. Jacinda takes huge risks as she begins to figure out what is most important to her, and although I wanted to yell, "NO! It's too dangerous," it does make for an excellent story.

So, if you liked Firelight and are ready for more, definitely pick up Vanish. You might even find yourself liking it better!

Reading Rainbow: Ally Carter!

I have to apologize for taking another one of our unscheduled blog-cations. I was off on a real-life vacation, which included a visit to the best bookstore ever - Powell's City of Books! Leigh was in LA hobnobbing with famous authors during the SCBWI Summer Conference. (Even our vacations are literary-minded!) To make up for our absence, I am not just rec'ing one book today, but a whole slew of books! Two series by Ally Carter that I am in love with: The Heist Society and The Gallagher Girls.

First, I must thank Sophie for the recommendations on both of these series. I must also curse her for giving me two more book-boyfriends to think about! Honestly, these books are so well-written and perfectly timed - it's hard not to sink into them. In fact, I found it hard to put each one of them down once I had started!

One thing I love about Ally Carter's writing is the voice of her main characters. Both Katarina (Heist Society) and Cameron (Gallagher Girls) are extremely smart, confident (in very unconventional ways), and funny. Aside from the knowledge gained by either growing up in a family of high-class criminals, or growing up in a school for spies, both girls are somewhat naive about boys, and how to decipher their own feelings while they live life undercover.

I also loved reading about the details of heists and spy school. Honestly, it was so much fun to read along while Katarina pulled off the perfect crime, or while Cameron and her friends pulled off their Covert Operations projects - especially those not sanctioned by her school. And Ally Carter doesn't miss a beat. These books never felt boring or drawn out. I wanted more, of course, but she does such a great job of wrapping things up (no Everest-high cliffs here!) that I always felt satisfied when finishing one of these books.

The only downside? Now I'm completely hooked and cannot wait for the fifth book in the GG series: Out of Sight, Out of Time. I can blame Sophie for that too, right? :)

Goodreads for Heist Society #1
Goodreads for Gallagher Girls #1
Sophie's reviews at Mundie Moms

The Near Witch Winner!

We have a winner for our give-away of The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab! Random Integer picked lucky #7 so... congratulations to Mindee Arnett! And while I was checking out Mindee's blog this morning, I saw that she has another reason for congrats - a book deal! Maybe we'll be giving away Mindee's book here someday too! :)

I must add that I really wish ALL of you had won (if only we had more give-away copies!). I'm in the middle of reading The Near Witch and it is GORGEOUS. Seriously, you all need to read it!

Thanks to all who played along in the give-away! Congratulations again to Mindee!

Giveaway! Reading Rainbow: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

You may have heard of a quiet little book that debuts today called The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab. I say "quiet little book" with a smirk because it has gotten rave reviews from everyone I know who's read it, and has generated the buzz to match.

Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.
But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.
The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget.

I took my ARC on a beach vacation and couldn't put it down. Totally engrossed by the mysterious disappearances in the town of Near, I completely ignored my own kids as they built sand castles and ran through the waves. (I know, the irony.)

Parenting at it's best... reading about missing kids while ignoring your own.

Instead, I was searching for a sweater in the middle of the tropics. When Victoria writes of misty, rainy moors you feel the rain and the cold, the type that sinks deep into your bones and doesn't want to let go. That's what this story does, grabs you someplace deep inside and digs in, and it doesn't let you go even after you've read it. I loved everything about it - the quiet strength of the characters, the twisty mystery, the magic, and the romance. It's poetic, lyrical writing at its best, and you'd be crazy not to get a copy as soon as you can. Otherwise, I might send the wind after you. And it's always lonely. *winks*

So, Leigh mentioned that she has a copy of The Near Witch, yes? She had offered to send it to me, but I said, "No, I'll wait and instead LET'S GIVE IT AWAY TO ONE OF OUR BLOG READERS!" (Read: Leigh is FAIL at the post office, but I love her anyway, and we really love you all so we came up with a give-away instead!)

So here is the deal - it's super easy if you are on twitter or Facebook! You can either tweet or post the following on Facebook, then link back in a comment to be eligible for an entry. If you do both, and comment twice with two separate links (1 twitter, and 1 facebook), that will be 2 entries! (I love give-away math.)

So, simply tweet or FB the following, then leave a comment with a link (or two) here and you'll be entered to win The Near Witch! Be sure to tag the WhimFic page in your Facebook post.

I want to win a copy of #THENEARWITCH from Whimsical Ficery! http://bit.ly/ort98W

We will pick a winner at 5pm EST on Wednesday, August 3rd. Good luck!!

P.S. You should definitely follow Victoria on twitter here! You will adore her. We are certain of this because she is adorable.

Reading Rainbow: Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

I hope I'm not one of the last people to read Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson, because I really want to share this great book with you all! After I read it (and quickly followed it with The Last Little Blue Envelope), I couldn't help but wonder how I had missed out on reading these books earlier. Thank goodness Leigh read them and forced me to do the same.

From Goodreads:

When Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes and instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she knows something exciting is going to happen. What Ginny doesn't know is that she will have the adventure of her life and it will change her in more ways than one. Life and love are waiting for her across the Atlantic, and the thirteen little blue envelopes are the key to finding them in this funny, romantic, heartbreaking novel.

I hate to admit this, but I definitely judged this book by its cover. I thought it would be too cutesy for me. You all know I like books about shadowhunters, vampires, werewolves and the like, but I also enjoy real-life books as long as they have some depth to them. Well, I was completely wrong about this book (and the sequel). Granted, they are cute, in a way that makes them fun to read and made me laugh out loud at times, but there is plenty of real-life depth here too. Maureen Johnson doesn't let her characters off easy, and she doesn't wrap everything up in a pretty, Happily-Ever-After bow, and I loved her for that.

So, if you're looking for some real-life, get past the cute covers and get ready for an eventful, fun, and sometimes heartbreaking journey. Seriously, you are missing out if you haven't read these books!