Book Review: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #1
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: August 16th 2007
My Rating: 5 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

Whenever I search for some good vampire series, the Vampire Academy series always pops up. I remember when Last Sacrifice (the last book of the series) was released and almost every blogger I followed was talking about it. I wanted to know what the fuss was all about, but at the time I was a tad afraid. I mean, I had no experience with the YA genre and, to be completely honest, I didn't exactly want to touch that area (think already too huge TBR pile).

Now, 2 years later (older, but definitely not wiser), I gave in. And boy, am I glad I did.

Fist of all, I loved Rose. I know you usually have to like the main character of a book to be able to like the story, especially if it's told in 1st person, but still. The first thing that I loved about her was that she was fiercely loyal to Lissa. I don't know if I ever read about a friendship like that. Throughout this book (and, actually, the whole series) Rose is ready to do anything for Lissa. And not just Lissa, she'd do anything for anyone able to win her love or loyalty. Secondly, I love that she's incredibly reckless. Not suicidal, but reckless and impulsive enough to not let her fear overcome her in situations where others would have fainted. Yes, she feels fear. But it's not a constant state of her. I also loved her sarcasm. A lot.

Then there's Dimitri. Besides the fact that he's a warrior, very sexy, lethal in a fight or the fact that he's Russian, he has GREAT taste in music. Hell, he could have been ugly, short and fat, the fact that he loves the '80s music makes him awesome (I might have sounded a little like Barney Stinson there for a second. Ignore that *sheepish*)

Lissa sounded a bit... too fragile at times, but she did see her parents die and she has some personal problems, so maybe it's understandable. I felt like she keeps Rose grounded sometimes.

I liked Christian too, more than I thought possible. I was surprised by him in a lot of situations, and over the course of this series I've grown to love him actually. Not as much as Dimitri, but that's another story.

The book is fast paced, full of action and suspense, a lot of drama and some romance here and there. I loooved the mythology of this series (more than you can imagine). I'm actually a bit angry at myself for waiting this long to pick up this series.

So if you're like me and you still have doubts about reading this book (and the entire series) or if you simply have it on your TBR pile/shelf, do pick it up and read it. You won't be sorry!

Timeless Desire Shoe Giveaway

Enter to Win a Pair of Sexy, Sky-high Snake Skin Print Kelsi Dagger Pumps (or a Zappos gift card)! $125 Value!

Five easy ways to enter:

1. Forward this email or URL to five friends, copying gwyn@cready.com by September 14, 2012 at midnight EST.

2. Send a picture of you holding Timeless Desire to gwyn@cready.com by September 14, 2012 at midnight EST.

3. Send a copy of a purchase receipt forTimeless Desire to gwyn@cready.com by September 14, 2012 at midnight EST

4. Tweet about Timeless Desire and mention @GwynCready in your tweet by Septemnber 14, 2012 at midnight EST.

5. Click here to go to the "Gwyn Cready, Romance Novelist" Facebook page and share any post on the page with your friends by clicking the "Share" button (not the "Like" button) under the post by September 14, 2012 at midnight EST.

You can enter each way, for up to five entries.

Contest rules: Open only to residents of U.S. and Canada. Void where prohibited. Entering this contest will automatically add you to the Gwyn Cready mailing list. Friends to whom you forward this email will not be added to the Gwyn Cready mailing list unless they, too, enter the contest. Limit of one entry per type per person. No personal information or email addresses will be sold or shared. Entries must be received by midnight EST on September 14, 2012. Winner will be posted at cready.com on September 15, 2012.

Timeless Desire by Gwyn Cready

Praise for Gwyn Cready:

"Cready's writing is romantic and wickedly witty."--NY Times bestselling author Rachel Gibson

"Gwyn Cready is the master of time travel romance."--Royal Reviews

Message from Author Gwyn Cready: 

Librarians are about the most kick-ass people on earth, and I've had some pretty wonderful librarians in my life, from my cousin Donna who keeps the library in South Park, Pennsylvania, humming, to my friend Manuel, a music librarian at UC Berkeley who has saved my sorry writer's butt many times with some handy bit of research, to Mrs. White, my first grade librarian, who read books aloud as if it was the most joy-filled thing on earth and to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for helping me discover the magic of a great story.

My librarian heroine in Timeless Desire, Panna Kennedy, is no exception. Battling budget cuts to distract herself from the grief of losing her husband, Panna discovers a mysterious opening under her library's careworn stairs and finds herself transported to the magnificent, book-filled quarters of the handsome eighteenth century English war hero whose larger-than-life statue looms over her desk. However, Captain Bridgewater is not as she imagined. Under house arrest as a traitor to England, the dashing Bridgewater warms to his beautiful and unexpected visitor despite his belief she's a spy. Bridgewater pulls Panna into his escape, and they share soul-baring secrets as well as a heart-racing kiss. But when he gives her a message that must be delivered to his secret allies and she is swept into the shocking intrigue that takes them from Hadrian's Wall to the forbidding borderland castle of Bridgewater's maternal grandfather, Panna must decide whether her loyalties lay with the memory of her dead husband or with the man whose life and reputation may depend on her.

Timeless Desire is my personal shout-out to all the wonderful librarians who've helped me over the years and to everyone out there who does the thing they're afraid to do. Enjoy!

Best,
Gwyn
www.cready.com

Waiting on Wednesday (9)

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


My pick this week:


The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch--a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood--or else she might be next.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood.

 I need this book now *sob*

Anyhow, what book are you eagerly anticipating?

Blog Tour Book Review: Arise by Amber Garr

On tour with Bookshelf Confessions

Author: Amber Garr
Series: The Syrenka #3
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date: July 4th 2012
My Rating: 5 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

With power comes the responsibility to accept its consequences.

After the betrayal of those closest to her, Eviana Dumahl struggles to cope with her new reality. Kidnapped, broken, and confused, she is forced to engage in a war that will alter merfolk politics forever. With her estranged father leading the charge, Eviana has no choice but to stand by his side. Her continued existence hinges on the acceptance of the power growing inside her, even when that means embracing the family’s dark lineage.

Kain Matthew will sacrifice the world for Eviana. And he is not alone. As time runs out, her friends fight to save her life and theirs. An unlikely alliance gives them the edge they need to take a stand, although it keeps Eviana’s heart trapped in the past. A new discovery explains some of her previous mistakes, but it may not be enough to stop her father’s plans. Merfolk, selkies, and water sprites work together to save their kind, only in this final battle, not everyone will survive.

In the striking series conclusion, Eviana will learn the true meaning of power, sacrifice, and love.

Arise was a book full of surprises. I honestly wasn't expecting half of the things that happened in this book. I liked that. A lot.

Eviana and her friends go through a lot of things into this last part of the trilogy. It seems as though their struggle to end Lucian's scheming and plans aren't going to end too soon. The best part of Arise is that we get to actually understand why Eviana was chosen as leader. She's much more mature than in Promises, much more focused on what she has to do for her clan and for all the creatures in the sea and humans as well. When given the chance, she chooses to face the danger, rather than flee from it. I liked that she was that strong. I also loved Kain.

Arise has everything I had hoped for: great action, suspense, thriller, some heart-breaking scenes, happy endings and tragedy. I was completely sucked in by the book. I was actually half afraid to take a break from reading, not wanting to waste time or lose focus. For me, this was one of those books that keep you so focused on the things that happen, you just can't stop reading.

Trust me when I tell you that this is a trilogy you don't want to miss. The only thing I regret is that the series ended. I truly loved Eviana, Brendan, Kain and all the other characters, as well as the world in this trilogy.

August in Retrospect

Hey everyone! I know I've been a "little" absent with my posts this month. August was a pretty difficult month, what with the heat wave and all that. Plus I had some relatives visiting, so I couldn't spend as much time on my blog as I wanted. But I did manage to read a lot, which was awesome. I finally read the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. I won the first book and then after I finished reading it I knew I couldn't wait for the paperbacks to get delivered and so I bought them all in e-books and read the entire series in 3 days. I'm glad I finally read it. I loooooved Rose and I loved Dimitri (how can someone in their right mind not love him though?). And now I'm waiting for the third Bloodlines book to come out in February 2013. It's actually cruel that readers get to read books so fast, but have to wait so damn long for a new book in a series to be released, you know?

Anyway, here are the books I read in August:

1. Broken - Kelley Armstrong
2. No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong
3. His Heart For The Trusting - Lisa Mondello
4. The More I See - Lisa Mondello
5. Breaking The Rules - Cat Lavoie
6. Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead
7. Frostbite - Richelle Mead
8. Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead
9. Blood Promise - Richelle Mead
10. Spirit Bound - Richelle Mead
11. Last Sacrifice - Richelle Mead
12. Bloodlines - Richelle Mead
13. The Golden Lilly - Richelle Mead
14. Differential Equations - Julian Iragorri & Lou Aronica
15. Betrayal - Amber Garr
16. Arise - Amber Garr
17. Soul Weaver - Hailey Edwards

Talk about a reading spree, huh? Anyway, I think I'm not wrong if I say this was the most productive month so far. I'm curious to see if I can beat that, but somehow I doubt it. 

I was missing this month, but I managed to write some reviews:

1. Her Heart For The Asking - Lisa Mondello 
2. His Heart For The Trusting - Lisa Mondello
3. The More I See - Lisa Mondello
4. Breaking the Rules - Cat Lavoie
5. Betrayal - Amber Garr
6. Soul Weaver - Hailey Edwards
7. Differential Equations - Julian Iragorri & Lou Aronica
8. Broken - Kelley Armstrong

I also managed to get a little closer to meeting my reading goals this month, more so than last year:

2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge 14/20

New Author Challenge 2012 32/25 - FINISHED - the books I read over 25 don't count towards any goal, because I don't want to make it my goal to read more than 25 new authors this year. I might do it next year, but so far I'm happy I managed to finish one goal and I'll leave it at that. If I manage to read more new authors, then that's fine. If not, it's no big deal :P

100 Books In A Year Reading Challenge 2012 62/100

Chick Lit Challenge 2012 5/12

Women Of The Otherworld Reading Challenge 6/13

I'm pretty proud of myself, let me tell you! Maybe there should be more heat waves in the future, so I can read more? *shakes head* That would be a bad idea though, as this year was awful, let me tell you! The A/C didn't manage to make even a little cold in the house, it was that hot. Some days, it was like it wasn't even on.

Anyway, so this was my month. How did you do last month with your reading?

Cover Love (25)

This feature is hosted by Carmel @ Rabid Reads. The rules are very simple. Choose a cover (or two, or three), preferably new-ish, and share what you like about it. Grab the graphic or don't just so long as you link back.


My picks this week:

As with the first cover in this series, I love the frosty loon of it. And there's this air of mystery that the colors have, one that I love. I also love the way her hair is lifted up by the wind.





A Feast of Souls by Hailey Edwards










Not as pretty as the first cover in the series, but it's still cool :D I'm also waiting to see how the story progresses.


Scarlet by Marissa Meyer













What are your picks this week for Cover Love?