Fool For Books Giveaway Hop 04/01-04/07

Fool for Books Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer.

Welcome to my stop on the Fools For Books Giveaway Hop!

I'm happy to have Gizmo's Reviews participating in this hop! 

The Hop itself runs from April 1 thru April 7, 2013

Everyone is encouraged to enter as the giveaway is international

as long as Book Depository delivers to your address.

Simple rules:

1. You must be at least 13 years of age

2. You don't have to follow me via Twitter, or Facebook, but I would

love it if you would follow my blog via Linky, FeedCat, or GFC.

So, what am I giving away you ask?

How about $10.00 towards (1) book at Book Depository?

All you have to do is enter below and keep your fingers crossed!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pre-Release Review - Naturals by Tiffany Truitt

*Synopsis*

Tess is finally safe from the reach of the Council, now that she is living in the Middlelands with the rebel Isolationists. With James having returned to Templeton, she easily falls back into her friendship with Henry, though her newfound knowledge of Robert’s chosen one status still stings. Even surrounded by people, Tess has never felt more alone. So she’s thrilled when James returns to the settlement, demanding to see Tess — until she finds out that it’s because her sister, Louisa, has been recruited into Tess’s old position at Templeton, and that the dangerously sadistic chosen one George has taken an interest in her.


*Review*

Whenever I get the chance to read a second book in a series, or trilogy, I often hesitate and pray that it's better than the original. Often times than naught, I'm left disappointed. For Naturals, the sequel to Chosen Ones, I got exactly what I wanted out of the book. I found the story more appealing on so many different levels and obviously, I will be eagerly awaiting to read the third installment.

Naturals picks up two days after the end of Chosen One's and finds Tess, McNair, Henry, Robert, and Eric heading out of a mission to find the Naturals encampment (Isolationalists). Tess becomes a stronger character overall this time out and really stands up for herself and her friends. She finds herself in a different situation where people don't trust her and she often has to prove herself in order to remain within the encampment including learning how to milk cows and taking a shower au natural.

She makes friends with a character named Lockwood and learns that she needs to work hard in order to fit in with the Isolationalists. Tess often finds herself wondering what happened to James after she left Templeton, and she finds that she is getting closer to Henry in many different ways until James shows up at ISO camp and ends up having to fight for his survival. Tess also has a conundrum in that she really feels awful about leaving her sister Louisa behind at at the mercy of those like George who has an agenda all his own which we later find out involves Tess and James.

As with all second novels, it seems, there is a pretty interesting cliffhanger which will leave readers wondering what the heck is going to happen next. Overall, I found Naturals to be appealing and enjoyable and will definitely read the third installment once it is released.

Title - Naturals (The Lost Souls # 2)
Author - Tiffany Truitt
Publisher - Entangled Publishing
Release Date - April 2, 2013
Genre - YA Dystopian

  

Stacking the Shelves 03/30/2013

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books we added to our shelves. It may be physical or virtual (ebook). This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Thanks for visiting my blog and checking out the books I received over the past week!

I hope you find something to add to your ever growing TBR Pile!

Received from ARCycling

Received from NAL Penguin/Ace Trade

Borrowed from Library

 

Received from Netgalley.com

 

Received from Edelweiss.com

 

 

ARC Review - Iron Kin by M.J. Scott

Imagine a city divided. Fae and human mages on one side, vampire Blood Lords and shape-shifting Beast Kind on the other. Between these supernatural forces stands a peace treaty that threatens to shatter at the slightest provocation….

I was raised to do the right thing. But to my family that means staying safe behind the walls of human society. To be a respectable metalmage and never put myself at risk. But the treaty is faltering. And if it fails, nothing is safe. To help save the city and everyone I care about, I will use whatever means I can to ensure the negotiations to renew the treaty are successful—even if that means forging an alliance with a man who is the very opposite of the right thing….

Fen is trouble. Wild. He would rather bind himself in iron and drink himself into oblivion than learn to master the visions that come to him. Those visions might just hold the key to peace, and it seems that my power might hold the key to his control—if I can keep it around him


*~Review~*

Iron Kin is the third installment in the Half-Light City series. The Half-Light City series is set in a alternative world where Humans, including Templars, Bloods (Vampires), Fae, and Beast Kind (werewolves) are all bound by a treaty that gets renewed and reviewed every 5 years. The first two books, Shadow Kin and Blood Kin, slowly built up the foundation for what happens in this book and introduced the main characters who have fought for everything they have in order to survive.

Iron Kin is told in the first POV alternating between Saskia DuCaine (Simon and Guy's mage sister) and Fen who apparently doesn't have any sort of last name that I could find. The one thing that we do know is that he is connected with Holly and their friend Reggie. As with the first two books in this series, Shadow Kin and Blood Kin, everything is connected. All of the characters have returned minus those who have met their untimely deaths. Characters like Simon (sunmage/healer) and Guy DuCaine (Templar), as well as Lily (wraith) and Holly Evendale (1/2 Fae) all make their return engagement.

Saskia is a rather interesting character if I may say so. She's a top of her class metal mage who has the ability to call fire, make metal dance to her desires, and hear the song of the Iron. She's feisty, she doesn't like being cuddled and protected by her older brothers and she pretty much lives her life exactly the way she wants to which leads her into capturing Fen's heart. I really wish that Scott had made her more of a kick ass character. I would have loved to see her kick some Bad Blood (pun necessary) and Beasts but I wouldn't categorize her as a weak Mary Sue type.

Fen, on the other hand, has been having intense visions which more often than not come true. Fen is part Fae, Part Beast, and Part Human which makes him an outcast, yet his services are in great demand because he can see future events. When we first meet Fen, he's a rake. He has a reputation as a ladies man and often drowns his visions in alcohol. Needless to say, Holly, Lily, Simon, and Guy try to keep him away from Saskia which only leads to her rebellion. There is plenty of sex in this book to keep even the die hard PNR fans jumping for joy.

I would absolutely recommend that you read this series in order. The story really gets interesting in the second half of this book when all parties are required to attend the renewal of the treaty and enemies pool all their resources in order to make a bloody statement. There are dangers around every corner, some seriously evil and dangerous factions who want to see the human race bow under their feet.

Definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Author - M.J. Scott
Title - Iron Kin (Half-Light City # 3)
Publisher - ROC
Releases - April 2, 2013
Genre - Paranormal Romance

Waiting on Wednesday 03/27/2013

"Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at “Breaking the Spine”, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

This week I am waiting on....Black Out by Robison Wells

To Be Released October 1, 2013 by Harper Teen

I am sure a BUNCH of you have already received this book since you are approved by Harper Teen. Still, I want to grab a copy of this book. I like the synopsis and Variant was a decent enough story to make me want to dive further into this authors work.

Red Dawn meets Marie Lu's Legend in this brutally fast-paced thriller from the critically acclaimed author of Variant.
Jack and Aubrey are high school students.
Laura and Alec are trained terrorists.
There was no reason for their paths to ever cross...
But now a mysterious virus is spreading throughout America, infecting teenagers with impossible powers. And these four are about to find their lives intertwined in a complex web of deception, loyalty, and catastrophic danger-where one wrong choice could trigger an explosion that ends it all.
Robison Wells blew readers away with Variant, which Publishers Weekly called "a chilling and masterful debut" in a starred review. The sequel, Feedback, was praised by Kirkus Reviews as "an absorbing read that won't let fans of the first down." In Blackout, he delivers a lightning-fast, nail-bitingly intense thriller that's perfect for fans of The Maze Runner and I Am Number Four-set in a complex and unpredictable world, where the greatest threat comes from a weapon that no one knows how to control...and the most chilling questions have yet to be answered.

Top 10 Tuesday 03/26/2013

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke & The Bookish

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

This weeks question:

Top Ten  Books I Recommend The Most

I would highly recommend each of the books below.

I have rated each of these books at least 4 stars some 5 stars!

I am a finicky reader and don't usually rate books this high, so, this

should give you an indication as to how much I loved these books!

1. Written in Red by Anne Bishop

2. The Rift Walker by Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith

3. The Ripple Effect by J.A. Saare

4. Deadline by Mira Grant

5. The Stand by Stephen King

6. Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

7. Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

8. The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

9. If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

10. Gilded by Karina Cooper

ARC Review - Apollyon by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Apollyon is the fourth novel in the Covenant series and the highly anticipated sequel to Deity. I have to say that Apollyon is one of those books that you don't want to miss out on if you are a JLA fan. There is a whole helluva lot that happens between Alex and Aiden in regards to trust, and their relationship and it left me cheering and wanting more.

The only negative I had was that there was no resolution in the storyline in regards to Seth and Lucian and whether or not Alex has the will power to continue to resist being united with Seth so that he can become the God Killer. I haven't liked Seth in a long time and that hasn't changed with Apollyon's release.

We do, however, get to find out who is pulling their strings, but, I guess we shall have to wait until Sentinel to find out what happens next. We also get a visit to the Underground to find out if Solaris has the answers Alex needs to stop Seth in his tracks.

The last part of this book was absolutely the best part of this book. It includes Alex fighting for her life in an effort to save others she's come to think of as friends and an emotional reunion. Alex is coming to the realization that she isn't alone anymore. She's still pigheaded at times, and makes the wrong choices. One thing that doesn't change is her snarky attitude which comes into play anytime she's anxious or put into a situation where she needs to think quickly on her feet. She also has a core group of supporters that includes Aiden, Marcus, Olivia, Solos, Deacon, Laaden, Lea, and Luke.

There are, of course, a few questions left to be answered like the fate of Alex's father. There's also the fact that not everyone came out of this story unscathed. I liked the reunion between Alex and Caleb in the Underground. I missed Caleb and had hoped that he would return to this series sooner, rather than later. This book is Alex's realization that she has been used and abused by Seth and Lucian and now she has the power to stop what is happening in the world without totally losing herself in the process .

I  recommend that after you read Deity, that you continue with the short novella called Elixir.Elixir is from Aiden's POV and there's sort of a continuation of that storyline into Apollyon where we find Alex trying to fight her link to Seth. There is sort of an emotional cliffhanger, so be forewarned and prepared. This is, after-all, what JLA does best.

A huge thanks goes out to Spencer Hill Press for providing me a copy of this book in lieu of an honest review on my part.

Title - Apollyon (Covenant # 4)
Author - Jennifer L Armentrout
Publisher - Spencer Hill Press
Releases -  April 9, 2013
Genre - YA Paranormal

Stacking the Shelves 03/23/2013

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books we added to our shelves. It may be physical or virtual (ebook). This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Thanks for visiting my blog and checking out the books I received over the past week!

I hope you find something to add to your ever growing TBR Pile!

I tried to behave myself this week. It was sooooo hard knowing that Harper Collins released a HUGE amount of new fall books on Edelweiss! ::Fingers crossed for approvals::

In the meantime!

Received from Harper Teen for Blog tour on April 2, 2013! 

Borrowed from Library 

Received from Harper Teen via Edelweiss

Received from Avon via Edelweiss

Received from Harper Teen via Edelweiss

Received from Pocket Star/S&S via Edelweiss

Received from Delacorte Press via NetGalley

Received from Disney-Hyperion via NetGalley

*Note* This is my FIRST DH title that I've been approved for in nearly 3 years!

Waiting on Wednesday 03/20/2013

"Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at “Breaking the Spine”, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

This week I am waiting on Perdition by Ann Aguirre!

Why am I waiting for this book? Are you kidding me? If you've read the Sirantha Jax series, you will definitely want to grab this series as well. 

Besides, it's ANN AGUIRRE! Do I really need to say more?

Expected publication: August 27th 2013 by Ace

WELCOME TO HELL
The prison ship Perdition, a floating city where the Conglomerate’s most dangerous criminals are confined for life, orbits endlessly around a barren asteroid.
Life inside is even more bleak. Hailed as the Dread Queen, inmate Dresdemona “Dred” Devos controls one of Perdition’s six territories, bordered on both sides by would-be kings eager to challenge her claim. Keeping them at bay requires constant vigilance, as well as a steady influx of new recruits to replace the fallen. Survival is a constant battle, and death is the only escape.
Of the newest convicts, only one is worth Dred’s attention. The mercenary Jael, with his deadly gaze and attitude, may be the most dangerous criminal onboard. His combat skill could give her the edge she needs, if he doesn’t betray her first. Unfortunately, that’s what he does best. Winning Jael’s allegiance will be a challenge, but failure could be worse than death…

Top Ten Tuesday 03/19/2013

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke & The Bookish

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

This weeks question:

 Top Ten Books I HAD To Buy...But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread

These are just the TIP of the ICEBERG, as it were, to the number of books

I've bought and still haven't read yet. Don't hate me folks! 

1. Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

2. Endgame by Ann Aguirre

3. Fury's Kiss by Karen Chance

4. Shadows Before the Sun by Kelly Gay

5. Blackout by Mira Grant

6. Darklands by Nancy Holzner

7. Deadly Descendant by Jenna Black

8. Changeling by Kelly Meding

9. Alien Diplomacy by Gini Koch

10. Two Weeks' Notice by Rachel Caine