Top Ten Tuesday #43: Summer TBR June 17, 2014

Each week, the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish think up a fun theme for the week and participating bloggers around the net join in. The theme for this week is:

Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR

I’m starting to do better about my TBR lists (Winter 6/10Fall3/10)! I read 6/11 books from my Spring TBR. I’m such a mood driven reader that it sometimes proves difficult to stick to a reading plan. I think I have a good mix of books for this summer so hopefully I can get closer to actually finishing this time! (:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I think it’s time to read it. I stumbled across a spoiler, but I think I’m in a mindset to handle it.

Frozen by Erin Bowman (I actually started this yesterday so GO ME!) I received an ARC of this and a finished set of Taken and Frozen from HarperCollins. I HATE that I put it off until now. LOVE.

Panic by Lauren Oliver. Another season TBR for this… hopefully summer is the time! 

As You Turn Away by Molli Moran. Ugh. It keeps slipping through the cracks. MUST READ.

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. I’ve been sorta in a mood for contemporaries so Katie and Jennifer Echols are on the radar.

On the Fence by Kasie West. I have an ARC and like I said above, kinda in a contemporary mood.

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings. I KNOW. This should’ve been read age go, but ya know. 

Oceanborn by Amalie Howard. Amalie told me to check the acknowledgements, so I’m super intrigued. Plus, Lo. I neeeeeeds him.

Deception by CJ Redwine. CJ sent me a signed copy, and I’m so excited to read it and my ARC of Deliverance in one go. Mmmm Logan.

Rites of Passage by Joy Hensley. I sent this to my kindle THE DAY it went up and then haven’t read it yet. *sigh* Now would be the perfect time to read it while hubby’s at a military school himself haha! (: LOVE Joy!

Tell me, what’s on your Summer TBR? In case you’re interested, these are the reviews to the books I completed from my Spring TBR: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein, Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman, After the End by Amy Plum, Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz & Michael Johnston, and The Falconer by Elizabeth May

*Review* Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz & Michael Johnston May 11, 2014

***As always mild spoilers may follow***

Rating:3 stars
Pub date:17 September 2013
Publisher:Putnam Juvenile
Genre:Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Dystopian, Paranormal
Format:personal copy, hardcover, signed; ARC obtained from ARCycling
Status:Book one of the Heart of Dread series

Summary:

From New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston comes this remarkable first book in a spellbinding new series about the dawn of a new kind of magic.

Welcome to New Vegas, a city once covered in bling, now blanketed in ice. Like much of the destroyed planet, the place knows only one temperature—freezing. But some things never change. The diamond in the ice desert is still a 24-hour hedonistic playground and nothing keeps the crowds away from the casino floors, never mind the rumors about sinister sorcery in its shadows.

At the heart of this city is Natasha Kestal, a young blackjack dealer looking for a way out. Like many, she’s heard of a mythical land simply called “the Blue.” They say it’s a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it’s a place where Nat won’t be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light.

But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries led by a cocky runner named Ryan Wesson to take her there. Danger and deceit await on every corner, even as Nat and Wes find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. But can true love survive the lies? Fiery hearts collide in this fantastic tale of the evil men do and the awesome power within us all.

My thoughts:

I have to take a moment and marvel that there is finally a Melissa de la Cruz book that didn’t wow me. I went in knowing it wasn’t received at well as other things she’s written, but c’mon. It’s by Melissa freaking de la Cruz. I had hopes that it was a fluke. I don’t know what it was, but whatever it was, I don’t know what happened with this book.

I was so excited for a new Melissa de la Cruz series. I bought a signed copy as a Happy Birthday to me present. The whole idea of Frozen intrigued me. Everything’s FROZEN. Ice age-esque. So. Excited. Finally, I decided to read it. I found out my library had it on audiobook so I decided it’d be a good listen while I do things around the house book. Nope.

The action in the beginning had me listening to sections a few times and checking my physical book. There’s so much info dumped at a time. I’m still not sure if I caught everything or not.

I was hoping the characters would redeem it. Nope. Reading or listening, I really couldn’t get into the two POV characters of Nat and Wes. I honestly didn’t care about them and would frequently have to replay or reread sections because I would zone out.

It also felt way too much like Under the Never Sky. I didn’t like how Into the Still Blue went and Frozen really felt like an alternate version in a way. Maybe if I’d read this first, my feelings would be swapped. Either way, I was distracted by that though a lot, too.

Some parts screamed Melissa de la Cruz wrote this and once I started noticing that, I started looking out for parts to mentally scream to myself “YAY! She totally wrote this part and I can tell it!” While it’s neat that I can hear her writing voice, it’s also annoying because it should be a seamless transition and one style shouldn’t over power the other. I know he’s helped her on other works, but I’ve never felt a voice struggle like I did in Frozen. Now, don’t get me wrong. Melissa can write a killer romance scene and I enjoyed those. But, they weren’t enough to redeem the suck.

If I gave up on books more easily than I do, I might have bailed. My love for Melissa de la Cruz kept me in til the end, but also distracted me. Now that I know what to expect, I’ll probably reread it. Hopefully without the distractions it will be a lot better. I’ll still definitely read Stolen when it comes out later this year. I’m interested enough in the story to at least give it a shot!

About the authors:

 

 

Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat.

Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.

She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.

Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!).

She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter.

 

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Hello April, Goodbye March! April 1, 2014

Another month already gone! This year is just flying by! March was a very productive month for me. I got a good amount of reading and blog work done. I have reviews written up and scheduled all the way through the middle of May! Things are moving along nicely. Hubby started a new job and the kids are growing like weeds. Life is really starting to look up with the start of spring. (: Keep an eye out for some more giveaways coming soon!

Books I read in March (in order of completion)

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Fifty First Times “Field Emotions” by Melissa West

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Free Four by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Books with the kiddos: (I actually kept track!)

How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Cats? by Jane Yolen

Spot Can Count by Eric Hill

The Story of Benjamin Franklin by Patricia A Pingry

You Are My I Love You by Maryann Cusimano Love (Bug’s Imagination Library Book) 

Down by the Station by Jess Stockham 

Cleo the Cat by Caroline Mockford 

Penguins Can’t Fly! by Richard Byrne 

Sesame Street: Elmo Look and Find by Publications International Ltd. 

The Story of Thomas Jefferson by Patricia A Pingry 

Thomas and the Treasure by Wilbert Awdry 

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff 

How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Dogs? by Jane Yolen 

Digger the Dinosaur Rebecca Kai Dotlich 

Coming up in April
We actually don’t have anything big coming up this month. Hopefully that means it’ll be a low key month. I’m super excited about Easter though! (:

Goals for April
Work on commenting and visiting other blogs

Read more with the kiddos

Stay ahead of schedule 

April releases I’m excited for:

The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz

Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman

April TBR:
As You Turn Away by Molli Moran

After the End by Amy Plum

The Falconer by Elizabeth May

Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols

Challenge Update:

I’m involved with four challenges officially.

Edelweiss & Netgalley challenge: 5/25 (Prisoner of Night and Fog)

TBR Pile challenge: 17/11-20 {I can and most likely WILL be increasing my level on this. I’m also not including ARCs in this unless I complete them after the book is released} (Cress, Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, The Book Thief,Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire, Frozen, The Impossible Knife of Memory)

Series challenge: 7/4-6 {I can and most likely will increase my level on this as well} (Cress, Divergent, Code Name Verity)

“Real” Book challenge: 12/21-30 {I have to sign up for this one once I get this post up!} (Cress, Divergent, The Book Thief, Code Name Verity, Frozen, The Impossible Knife of Memory)

How was your March? What’s up for April?