Book review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

***This novel releases TODAY! Happy Book Birthday!****

Summary:

A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel. 

R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead. 

Not just another zombie novel, Warm Bodies is funny, scary, and deeply moving.

My thoughts:

I'm going to start this review by saying that you mustn't skip this book because you don't enjoy (or simply really don't want to) read about zombies. When I received an email asking me if would consider reviewing Warm Bodies I was kind of on the fence about it for a little, I mean zombies, that got to be gross right?! The book description and the fact that both Audrey Niffenegger and Stephenie Mayer was quoted, saying how much they loved the story, made me so curious that in the end I knew I had to say yes.

Once I started Warm Bodies I devoured it, no pun intended, HA HA. Isaac Marion has written a heartwarming debut novel, featuring zombies of all creatures, with superb characters. The main character R wants' a second chance of life and he reminds the reader that there isn't always a second chance, live life while you can. This story is told through the zombie, R's, eyes. Marion somehow managed to make me fall for this creepy zombie character, I mean how is that even possible? R's love interest is a girl named Julie, she was a character so full of life, open minded and with a good spirit; one cannot help but love her. I haven't written much about the story here, mostly gushing about how good the story is, I recommend that you watch the book trailer below for more information on the plot :)

When I closed the novel the most important thing I was left with was something as beautiful as the feeling of hope. One should never ever lose hope!

In this world where book series seems to almost be spewed out in the sped of light, it was a relief to find this fairly short gem of a novel that stands on its own. I cannot belive that it's a debut novel, I will have to keep an eye out for his future works. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that there's a movie in the making as we speak!

Book trailer:

The cover:
I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, I'm not feeling the love.

My rating of this book:

5 stars out of 5 - loved it!

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews written by some of my book blogging friends:
Angieville
My Favourite Books

Want to know more?
Add Warm Bodies to your Goodreads wish list.
Read Isaac's blog 
Follow Isaac on Twitter

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion 

Published: April 26th 2011
Pages(hardcover): 256
Publisher: Atria(A Simon & Schuster imprint)
ISBN: ISBN-10: 1439192316 ISBN-13: 9781439192313
Full disclosure: ARC received for honest review. 

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries.  

Book review: The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder

My summary:
After moving into town about a year ago April Bowers is suddenly discovered by one of the most popular girl in school, Britney Taylor. Britney takes April under her wing on one condition; that April swears to abide by the lipstick laws...

My thoughts:
With The Lipstick Laws author Amy Holder has written a funny contemporary novel, but it is not all fun n' games there's some serious subjects being addressed in this novel. An important message is about accepting yourself and your body. The Lipstick Laws reminds us that we all have our flaws and insecurities that's just part of who we are. In my opinion there can never be enough YA novels addressing this important subject. There are so many teens struggling with self-acceptance. We can't all look like supermodels, just imagine what a boring world we would live in if that ever happened.


April, the MC, is a character who does what many of us might to, she seizes the opportunity to be popular. Britney turns out to be quite the controlling bully and one can easily imagine why other girls is scared to stand up to her. A pet peeve of mine was the way April, treated a guy named Delvin, I found it hard to believe that April could be so blind to her own actions. I must admit that I didn't really like the love interest in this novel, my heart rooted for the geek, not Mr. Hottie. Despite of this minor issues of mine The Lipstick Laws was a respectable and entertaining debut novel.

Fans of It Started with a Dare by Lindsay Faith Rech(check out my review) The Lipstick Laws will be right up your alley.

Book trailer:

The cover:
Makes me wish I had lips like that! I mean I accept my lips the way they are LOL ;)

My rating of this book:

3.5 stars out of 5

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews written by some of my book blogging friends:
The Story Siren
Coffe Table Reviews
Palm Books Journals
Miss Page-Turner's City of Books
J'adorehappyendings
P.S. I Love Books
i.eat.words.

Want to know more?
Add The Lipstick Laws to your Goodreads wish list.
Visit Amy Holder's homepage 
Read Amy's blog 
Follow Amy on Twitter

The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder

Published: April 4th 2011
Pages(paperback): 240
Publisher: Graphia Books
ISBN: 9780547363066
Full disclosure: ARC received from Graphia Books(a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt imprint) via NetGalley. 

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries.

Check out this book trailer:Blood on My Hands

I've never heard of this YA thriller before I saw this trailer published by Walker Books on YouTube yesterday. It sounds so good so I thought I might share it :)

Summary of Blood on My Hands by Todd Strasser(borrowed from Goodreads):

Callie is at an October keg party in the woods, when she notices that her friend Katherine has gone missing. The kids spread out to look for her and Callie finds her, lying on a path, with a big, bloody fake knife in her. She reaches for the knife and raises it, only to discover, to her horror, that it is real. At that moment, another of the search party stumbles on them, and takes a photo of Callie holding the bloody knife. Now she is the suspect in a grisly murder. How can she prove her innocence - and find the true murderer?

Above photos shows the US cover, the German cover and the UK cover. Which one do you prefer?

I prefer the UK version of the cover myself though I wouldn't mind if it had a tad more of the creapiness factor.

Book review: Here lies Bridget by Paige Harbison

My summary:
Bridget is the schools most popular and mean girl. One day a new girl, Anna, comes to school and she is the kind of girl everyone just loves. Bridget hates it, especially when Anna hangs out with Bridget's ex-boyfriend, whom she still loves. Things start to go down hill for Bridget and one day she drives away from school blinded by hurt and anger. Bridget fantasizes about what would happen and how people would react if she has a car accident. Well Bridget gets to find that out sooner than she thought possible and she gets stuck in limbo where she has to walk in the shoes of some the people she hurt. Bridget is granted one day to make it right with the people she has hurt.

My thoughts:
Here Lies Bridget is a type of, well almost at least, a fairytale about a mean girl. It reminded me a bit of Cinderella and it had some elements from A Christmas Carol. 


The main character, Bridget, was downright mean and during the first half of the book I didn't like her.That being said it was possible, to some extent, to understand part of the reasons why that made Bridget that way. Author Paige Harbison also did a good job reminding the reader that even small remarks can sting more than we sometimes think.

For me even though I started out disliking Bridget this was a real page-turner of a story and I enjoyed every minute I spent between the pages. Paige Harbison is one gifted young writer and I'm looking forward to read the next piece of fiction coming from her pen.

The cover:
I just think it's awesome, beautiful mixed with a dash of dark humor.

My rating of this book:

4 stars out of 5

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews written by some of my book blogging friends:
I Eat Words
J'adoreahappyending
The Book Whisperer
Parjunkee's View

Want to know more?
Add Here lies Bridget to your Goodreads wishlist.
Visit Paige Harbison's homepage 
Read Paige's blog 
Follow Paige on Twitter

Here lies Bridget by Paige Harbison 

Published: January 18th 2011
Pages(paperback): 224
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
ISBN: 0373210280 (ISBN13: 9780373210282)
Full disclosure: ARC received, for honest review, from Harlequin via NetGalley.   

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries.  

The Radleys- Teaser Tuesday

This weeks teaser is brought to you from The Radleys by Matt Haig, page(hardcover)74-75:

Rowan has a secret aim in life. He wants to write a novel. He has ideas, but nothing seems to make it into writing. The trouble is, all his ideas is a bit too bleak. They always seem to involve suicide or apocalypse or - more and more frequently - some sort of cannibalism. Generally, they are set two hundred years ago, but there's one idea he has that is set in the future. This is his happies idea - the one about the world's imminent end.

I'm over halfway through and I'm loving this vampire novel with a touch of dark humour! This book deserves to get more readers! It's a crossover YA/adult vampire novel. I think the cover on the far right side is for the young adult version. I'm reading the adult version and I'm guessing some bits are left out of the YA novel.

MizB of Should Be Reading host this meme called Teaser Tuesday . Anyone can play along! Just do the following: 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Book review: The Diviner's Tale by Bradford Morrow

***This is a review of an adult murder mystery***

My summary:
Cassandra is a single mom in her thirties. She has an unusual gift, she is a diviner; the kind that can track down water sources on your property if there is any. While Cassandra is out on a mission she finds a dead girl, when she is back on the scene of the crime with the police the girl is gone. A monster from Cassandra's past is back to haunt her.

My thoughts:
The reader understands at once that Cassandra has a special gift as the story begins in her childhood when she has a premonition of her brothers death. That being said The Diviner's Tale had me confused almost throughout the book and I'm not saying that is a bad thing. I was never really sure if the main character Cassandra was sane or if she suffered of some kind of mental disease. Was the mystery with the girl in the woods real or was it all just in Cassandras head?

Morrow has written some scenes that made me feel cold and scared. I'm sure you know the kind of feeling I'm talking about, the kind of feeling that makes you want to sit with your back against the corner so that no one can sneak up on you from behind while you're reading and give you a really good fright.

The story isn't just a murder mystery, it is also about family. I loved the relationship that Cassandra had with her father and her twin boys. Cassandra's father, Ned, reminded me a lot of my late grandmother who had Alzheimer. It made me think that perhaps the author might have experienced the illness on a personal level, Ned's character felt so real. It was both heart warming and sad.

The cover:

Eerie, which is quite fitting. 

My rating of this book:

4 stars out of 5

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews written by some of my book blogging friends:

My favourite books 

Want to know more?
Add  The Diviner's Tale to your Goodreads wishlist.
Visit Brad's homepage 

The Diviner's Tale by Bradford Morrow

Published: January 20th 2011
Pages(hardcover): 320
Publisher: Houghtohn Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547382634 (ISBN13: 9780547382630
Full disclosure: ARC received, for honest review, from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley.  

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries.  

My top 10 from the first quarter of 2011

Inspired by kathy's post Best of 2011, So Far over at her blog Read This Instead. I wanted to give a short summary of my favorites so far this year.

In total by the end of March I'd started 26 books and finsihed 25, the one was one I just couldn't finish.

My favorites so far:
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
The Last Full Measure by Ann Rinaldi
Carrie Pilby by Caren Lissner
First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

Some of my favorites I haven't yet reviewed and those are: 
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
Firelight by Sophie Jordan
Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

So that's my favorites so far this year. Do tell me yours :)

Wooops - Winner of Glee contest

I'm so, so sorry that I forgot to draw the winner of my Glee novels! Better late then never, right? Random.org told me that Stella was the winner this time. Congratulations, Stella! I've sent you an e-mail. Stella is the blogger behind a wonderful book blog called Ex Libris - you should go visit her :)

The Death Catchers - Waiting on Wednesday

The Death Catchers by Jennifer Ann Kogler. Release date: August 16th 2011. Published by Walker Books for Young Readers.

Why am I pining for The Death Catchers?

A paranormal spin to the Arthurian legend sounds like fun :) I liked the synopsis and the cover is just gorgeous (it certainly doesn't hurt a book).

Synopsis(borrowed from the Goodreads):

On her fourteenth Halloween, Lizzy Mortimer sees her first death-specter.

Confused at first, Lizzy soon learns from her grandmother Bizzy that as Death Catchers, they must prevent fate from taking its course when an unjust death is planned—a mission that has been passed down from their ancestor, Morgan le Fay. Only, Lizzy doesn't expect one of her first cases to land her in the middle of a feud older than time between Morgan le Fay and her sister Vivienne le Mort. Vivienne hopes to hasten the end of the world by preventing Lizzy from saving King Arthur's last descendant—humanity's greatest hope for survival. It's up to Lizzy, as Morgan's earthly advocate, to outwit fate before it's too late. 

With its unique spin on Arthurian legend, this fresh, smartly written story will stand out in the paranormal genre.

Want to know more about the author or the book?

Visit Jennifer Ann Kogler's homepage

Follow Jennifer on Twitter

Read Jennifer's journal 

Add The Death Catchers to your Goodreads shelf

What are you waiting for this week?

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This event spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. Please visit Jill's blog to find out what other book bloggers are waiting for.

Postcard killers - Teaser Tuesday

This weeks teaser is brought to you from  Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund, Kindle location 2718-20:

Big tourist buses had started to arrive at the lot outside IKEA. They seemed to come from the whole of the Arctic region. Jacob saw license plates from Norway, Finland and Russia. It was like IKEA was a county fair.

This isn't a whodunit thriller but more how can they possibly prove that these guys are guilty. This book has received very mixed reviews but I actually find it very hard to put down.

MizB of Should Be Reading host this meme called Teaser Tuesday . Anyone can play along! Just do the following: 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!