Monthly Archives: March 2014

Legend by Marie Lu

Posted on March 28, 2014 | 2 comments

Legend (Legend, #1) Legend by Marie Lu. Published Nov 29, 2011 by Putnam Juvenile. CDN $9.50 paperback copy.

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets. Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills. (Goodreads Excerpt)

I seem to be on a bit of a dystopia kick lately. Not that I’m complaining, since so far I have not been disappointed. My 16 yr old daughter gave me this book to read first since it isn’t something she would normally read. I was pleasantly surprised. The book is written from both June and Day’s POV. I love this type of writing. I like how we get into both heads and learn what makes them tick. I have to say I was shocked at Metias’s death. (Not a spoiler since it is on the goodreads excerpt!)

The back and forth chase between the characters is engaging and keeps you on the edge waiting until they meet face to face. I love how alike these characters are even though they don’t see it. There is a lot of suspense, action, thrills and chills. I’m a big fan of kick ass heroines and this delivers with impact. Day is equally bad ass but with a kind soft side that is endearing.

The love connection between the two is sweet and maybe a little quick, but I will chalk it up to how they met and the intensity of the timing. I was a little surprised at the ending, not in a bad way but just surprised. I’m looking forward to the next book.

4 ½ stars for me.
 

 

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Divergent – The Movie

Posted on March 25, 2014 | Leave a comment

I absolutely loved this book and couldn’t wait to see the movie.  The premise behind the story is that after a devastating War much of society was destroyed. The story takes place about 100 years from now in what is left of Chicago.  In order to save society, the population was divided into five factions based on character traits that were dominant.  Amity(peaceful) farm the land, Candor (honesty) run the legal system, Erudite (intelligent) focus on technology, Abnegation(selflessness) run the government and Dauntless (Bravery) protect the city from the outside world. We don’t really know what is out there at this point but we are told we need to be protected from it.

Tris (or Beatrice as she was known from Abnegation) is the teenage main character and after undergoing the mandatory testing to see which faction she is suited to, discovers that she is Divergent.  She fits into more than one category.  Divergence is a dangerous thing she is told, and she must hide it from everyone.

Tris chooses Dauntless and then has to leave her family behind and learn to fight, shoot, and train for all kinds of different situations including a mental component that helps her combat fear.

I don’t want to get into too much detail, but suffice it to say that Tris is one butt whipping, super cool heroine. Shailene Woodley does an excellent job of portraying Tris.

And of course who could forget the love interest of Four.  Theo James plays Tobias (four) and OMG this guys is AWESOME!  My only complaint with the movie is that they swiftly passed over the attraction and intensity of the connection between Tris and Four.  You get the gist, but you miss the emotion of the book.  Sigh…but he is easy on the eyes for sure.

Well I will leave it at this.  The movie was great, full of action, suspense, drama, intrigue and everything you want in a movie.  Was it as good as the book?  Not a chance, but they rarely are.  If you didn’t read the book it was an awesome movie.  If you read the book, it was a good movie that left a lot of the book out.  But that is to be expected when you try to pack a fantastic novel into a two-hour movie that needs to focus on the action and special effects to draw in a crowd.

I wasn’t disappointed and look forward to the next installment.

5 stars for me.

 

 

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WWW Wednesdays (March 19)

Posted on March 19, 2014 | 1 comment

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My Answers

 White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements, #1)Recently Finished White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L Armentrout.  Freakin Fantastic.  Here is a link to my review:

https://cynthiastacey.com/2014/03/17/white-hot-kiss-by-jennifer-l-armentrout/

Legend (Legend, #1)Currently Reading Legend by Marie Lu.  So far it is good but I just barely started.

Up Next? 

Spellcaster (Spellcaster, #1) Firstborn

SpellCasster by Claudia Gray

Firstborn by Ryan Attard

And as always you never know what little treasure will show up and DEMAND to be read.  Happy reading everyone.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own WWW Wednesdays post, or share your answers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! :D

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Check out their blog!

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WWW Wednesdays (March 19)

Posted on March 19, 2014 | 3 comments

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My Answers:

White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements, #1) Recently Finished: White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L Armentrout.  Totally freaking awesome!.  Here is a link to my review:

https://cynthiastacey.com/2014/03/17/white-hot-kiss-by-jennifer-l-armentrout/

Legend (Legend, #1)Currently Reading Legend by Marie Lu.  So far it is good but I am not very far into it.

Up Next? 

Spellcaster (Spellcaster, #1) Firstborn

SpellCaster by Claudia Gray

Firstborn by Ryan Attard

And as always you never know what little treasure will show up and DEMAND to be read.  Happy reading everyone.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own WWW Wednesdays post, or share your answers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! :D

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Check out their blog!

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Teaser Tuesday (Mar 18)

Posted on March 18, 2014 | 8 comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

She’s real, he thought.  If the crash happened like I saw it would, then so will everything else I’ve seen.

Shaky and cold with horror, Mateo closed his eyes against the realization that he was doomed.

And if the girl from his dreams didn’t stay far away from him–she’d be doomed too.

3% on kindle

Spellcaster (Spellcaster, #1) Spellcaster by Claudia Gray

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! :D

Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Check out their blog!

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White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L Armentrout

Posted on March 17, 2014 | 2 comments

White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements, #1) White Hot Kiss by Jennifer Armentrout.  Published Feb 25, 2014 by Harlequin Teen.  CDN $3.03

One kiss could be the last.

Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she’s anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses.

Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she’s crushed on since forever.

Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she’s not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn’t an issue, considering Roth has no soul.

But when Layla discovers she’s the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne…it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world. (Goodreads excerpt)

OMG! This was me after reading this!

Well holy crap and OMG!  I love this new book by Jennifer Armentrout.  I have to say that I am a HUGE Roth fan!  Demon or not this guy is HOT, STEAMY, SEXY and a whole lot of AWESOMENESS all entangled into one WICKED man.  I kid you not…this guy is TEMPTATION personified. 

I love the concept of this book. Not only do we see a world with SEXY HOT Gargoyles of all creatures, talk about original, but the entire world is aware of them.  Very cool.  I want to go knock on a gargoyle and see if he is real.  Personally I love everything this author touches but this one is fantastic. It is suspenseful, thrilling, captivating and engaging and really draws the reader in.  It is a typical battle of good vs evil, but we don’t really know who is good and who is bad.  The lines are blurred perfectly making the reader second guess everything. 

 I love Layla.  She is smart, funny, fearless, with abilities like no other.  She is everything you want in a MC.  She has her faults too of course; impulsive is probably the biggest since it gets her in trouble.  You have no choice but to empathize with her.  She has lived her whole life with a huge problem…her kiss would suck the soul right out of you. And to top it off, she craves souls like an addict on crack!  Talk about issues…

I’ve said this before, that I am not a fan of love triangles, but this one works.  Layla has been in love with Zayne, a gargoyle forever, but can never have him. Then comes along Roth, whom she can be with if she chooses, but he is an upper level demon…talk about a date with a devil.  And he is full of deliciousness that she can’t resist.  It’s all about choices.  I won’t tell you anymore, but this is an incredible book! 

5 stars for me. 

 

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Is it Friday Yet? (March 14)

Posted on March 14, 2014 | Leave a comment

 photo by pbh2.com

Oh yeah!  little to the left.  Friday is here!

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Is it Friday Yet? post, or just a comment (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! :D

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Wordless Wednesday (Mar 12)

Posted on March 12, 2014 | 4 comments

photo by jimmyfungus.com

photo by rebloggy.com

 

I love Wordless Wednesday.  I get a kick out of finding the best picture that makes me laugh or go ‘OMG that is so adorable’.  So please  LEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Wordless Wednesday post, or just a comment (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! :D

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WWW Wednesdays (March 12)

Posted on March 12, 2014 | 8 comments

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My Answers I’m afraid it has been a slow reading week this week.  My answers are the same as last week. 😦

Bitter Sweet Love (The Dark Elements, #0.5)Destroy Me (Shatter Me, #1.5) Recently Finished Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L Armentrout.  Awesome new series.  Here is a link to my review:

https://cynthiastacey.com/2014/03/03/bitter-sweet-love-jennifer-l-armentrout/

and Destroy Me (Shatter Me 1.5) by Tahereh Mafi.  Again great Novella.  Here is a link to my review:

https://cynthiastacey.com/2014/03/03/destroy-me-shatter-me-1-5-by-tahereh-mafi/

White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements, #1)Currently Reading White Hot Kiss by Jennifer Armentrout.  This is the next book in the Dark Elements series after the Novella above.  OMG I am loving this series.  I just wish I had more time to read!!!

Up Next? Legend by Marie Lu is going to be first and then one of the other ones. 

Legend (Legend, #1)       Fracture Me (Shatter Me, #2.5)Spellcaster (Spellcaster, #1)

Fracture Me (Shatter Me 2.5) by Tahereh Mafi

SpellCaster by Claudia Gray

And as always you never know what little treasure will show up and DEMAND to be read.  Happy reading everyone.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own WWW Wednesdays post, or share your answers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! :D

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Check out their blog!

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Teaser Tuesday (Mar 11)

Posted on March 11, 2014 | 13 comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

At least twice a month, I see my Wanted poster flashed on the JumboTrons scattered throughout downtown Los Angeles.  It looks out of place up there.

Page 1

Legend (Legend, #1) Legend by Marie Lu

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! :D

Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Check out their blog!

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Writing—So Easy a Caveman Can Do It

Posted on March 7, 2014 | Leave a comment

Awesome article by Author Kristen Lamb!

Kristen Lamb's Blog

Original image via Flickr Creative Commons courtesy of Sodanie Chea Original image via Flickr Creative Commons courtesy of Sodanie Chea

Recently a Facebook friend shared a post with me regarding Indie Musicians versus Indie Authors. It appears our culture has a fascination and reverence for the Indie Musician whereas Indie Authors face an immediate stigma. We authors have to continually prove ourselves, whereas musicians don’t (at least not in the same way). My friend seemed perplexed, but to me it’s very simple.

We’re not even going to address the flood of “bad” books. Many writers rush to publish before they’re ready, don’t secure proper editing, etc. But I feel the issue is deeper and it reflects one of the many challenges authors face and always will.

People give automatic respect to a musician because not everyone can play an instrument or sing. Simple. It’s clear that artist can do something many cannot.

As writers, we have an insidious enemy. People…

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Did you see this?

Posted on March 6, 2014 | 1 comment

Very cool! Check this out!

Elijah Heiss

did-you-see-this

It’s magic.

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Wordless Wednesday (Mar 5)

Posted on March 5, 2014 | 4 comments

photo by http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/kitten

I love Wordless Wednesday.  I get a kick out of finding the best picture that makes me laugh or go ‘OMG that is so adorable’.  So please  LEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Wordless Wednesday post, or just a comment (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! :D

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WWW Wednesdays (March 5)

Posted on March 5, 2014 | 10 comments

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My Answers

Bitter Sweet Love (The Dark Elements, #0.5)Destroy Me (Shatter Me, #1.5) Recently Finished Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L Armentrout.  Awesome new series.  Here is a link to my review:

https://cynthiastacey.com/2014/03/03/bitter-sweet-love-jennifer-l-armentrout/

and Destroy Me (Shatter Me 1.5) by Tahereh Mafi.  Again great Novella.  Here is a link to my review:

https://cynthiastacey.com/2014/03/03/destroy-me-shatter-me-1-5-by-tahereh-mafi/

White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements, #1)Currently Reading White Hot Kiss by Jennifer Armentrout.  This is the next book in the Dark Elements series after the Novella above.  So far it is amazing as you would expect from this author.

Up Next?

Spellcaster (Spellcaster, #1) Legend (Legend, #1) Fracture Me (Shatter Me, #2.5)

One of these I think since I own all of them:

SpellCaster by Claudia Gray

Legend by Marie Lu

Fracture Me (Shatter Me 2.5) by Tahereh Mafi

And as always you never know what little treasure will show up and DEMAND to be read.  Happy reading everyone.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own WWW Wednesdays post, or share your answers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! :D

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Check out their blog!

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Teaser Tuesday (Mar 4))

Posted on March 4, 2014 | 6 comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

Danika’s throaty laugh came again, followed by a deeper chuckle.  I could picture her tossing her long black hair over her shoulder, smiling the way all girls smiled at Zayne, and I pushed open the door.

They stood so close their souls touched.

14% on kindle

White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements, #1)White Hot Kiss by Jennifer Armentrout

Really Really REALLY enjoying this series!

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks! :D

Teaser Tuesday is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Check out their blog!

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