Blog Tour Book Review: Mad World EPIDEMIC by Samaire Provost

Author: Samaire Provost
Series: Mad World
Publisher: Amazon
Release Date: July 28th 2012
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: review copy offered by author
Blurb (from Goodreads):

The Black Plague is ancient history. It killed 100 million people nearly seven centuries ago, halfway around the world from the technologically advanced research center at Stanford University. Scientists there have recently begun examining samples of bone marrow from plague-infected corpses unearthed in Europe. All the necessary safeguards are in place. What could go wrong? Alyssa and Jake are away with their class on a highly anticipated year-end trip to Broadway with their senior acting class when all hell breaks loose at home. Traveling back, and trying to find their families, they encounter deadly results. Riots are breaking out. People are being evacuated. And they have no idea what's happening to their families. Horrific ordeals, heart-pounding tragedy, and chance encounters harden them for what lies ahead. Faced with tormenting decisions, they're forced to follow their instinct for survival at any cost - even when the cost is a heart-wrenching decision of life or death. A harrowing adventure of frightening discoveries, horrifying confrontations and narrow escapes in Epidemic, the first installment of the Mad World series. Find out what's got everyone so terrified.

 

Wow! What a way to start this year! First, let me start by saying that this was the very first book I have ever read that is entirely filled with zombies and ONLY zombies. No other supernatural creatures. Go ahead, gasp in horror, I'll wait. :P *clears throat*

The first thing that I loved about this book is that the action starts right away. It doesn't run around in circles for ages before the story starts. It throws you right in the middle of everything and it takes you along for the ride. I loved that. It's been a while since I've read a book that manages to do that and keep me interested.

Another thing that I loved was that, while I thought things were very unfair at some point, the plague doesn't forgive anyone. Even if it's a loved character or a strong character, or a character you might hate. It doesn't matter. Everyone is vulnerable and it can happen at any time. I think that also helps showing how deadly this virus really is and it shows how painful it can become to see that the ones you love are in danger. It kept me on my toes, because I can never realize who's going to be next. One minute I'm thinking a certain character is safe and healthy and then in the next page he/she turns into a zombie. I loved that.

I like Alyssa. I like that she's mature enough to know and accept the fact that sometimes you have to do some things you don't like in order to survive in a situation like in the book. I'm only hoping that she and the others survive this whole thing.

I can't say enough about this book. I loved it enough to stay awake the entire night and read it. I actually want to go read the next one, Mad World: SANCTUARY, now. So, if you like zombies, go ahead and read this book. You won't be sorry!

Author Bio:

 Born naked. Clothed and fed shortly thereafter by adoring parents who looked on in bemusement as their daughter became a reading, writing, free-spirited, feral, animal loving, bleeding-heart chocolate lover who laughs easily. Samaire Provost is a California writer of Young Adult novels. Her love of paranormal stories, odd plots, and unique tales as well as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, E.A.Poe, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and Stephen King has deeply influenced her writing.

Connect with Samaire!
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/samairep
Twitter - https://twitter.com/samaireherself
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6453849.Samaire_Provost
Amazon author page - http://www.amazon.com/Samaire-Provost/e/B008PVTXMW
Amazon book page - http://www.amazon.com/Mad-World-Epidemic-1-ebook/dp/B008PO969O/
Blog - http://samaireprovost.tumblr.com/

12 Days of 2012: Day 5 Best Villain

BEST VILLAIN 

This year I got to read about a lot of interesting characters. Superheroes, cowboys, cowgirls, secret agents, doctors, schoolteachers, accountants, lawyers, wizards, elves and some other categories that I can't remember what they're called. Some were good guys, some were bad guys. Out of those bad guys I read about, some stuck with me. So, here you have my top 5 villains:

1. Graham from The Syrenka series by Amber Garr - the sneakiest bad guy I've ever read about. And the most surprising. 
2. Mab Monroe from Elemental Assassin by Jennifer Estep - the most psychotic and the most cruel woman 
3. The false King  from The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa - the most ironic situation ever and the most shocking.
4. Voldemort from Harry Potter by J.K Rowling - the most cruel villain ever
5. Saruman from Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien - the most devious

Now, don't say that the last two aren't fair. In my defense, I did reread both those series this year and I had fun doing it :D

What about you? Did you read about any "good" villains?

Happy Holidays!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope you have a great day and that you're surrounded by the most important people in your life and that Santa brings you lots of presents, joy and love.

I'm sorry I've been missing, but I managed to injure my hand in the most idiotic way imaginable: while cooking. Don't ask, 'cause I'm just too embarrassed to say anything about it. Just know that I couldn't type with just one healthy hand, which also happened to be my left, non-dominant one. But I'm better now and I promise to go back to the normal program starting tomorrow.

Now go have fun and open lots of prezzies :D

12 Days of 2012: Day 4 Best New For Me Authors

BEST NEW FOR ME AUTHORS

At the end of 2011 I decided to sign up for a lot of reading challenges. One of them was New Author Reading Challenge hosted by Jackie @ Literary Escapism. I had a very good time completing that challenge. I discovered a lot of great authors through it. These are my top 10 new for me authors:

1. Julie Kagawa
2. Amber Garr
3. Richelle Mead
4. Resa Nelson
5. Kelley Armstrong
6. Mary Parker
7. Helen Smith
8. Marissa Meyer
9. L. Filloon
10. Sherri Hayes

If you want to see the complete list of the new authors, go here. As always, keep in mind that there are many other authors from that list that won me over with their stories :D

15 Opening Lines - My Favorite Books

A few days ago I saw a list with 21 classic opening lines in books and out of all the books mentioned I've only read 2: Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter. I wonder, why doesn't someone make a list like that with books I actually love? Not that the two I've read from that list aren't good and among my favorite, but there should be more. Anyway, I decided to make my own list, though a tad shorter (just 15 books). I've included both YA and adult books and I'll have a +18 for books with explicit language. Feel free to add more if you want:

1. "This story is about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun" -  The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
2. "Amy Jo Foster had loved Cord McKay her entire life" - Cowgirl Up and Ride by Lorelei James (+18)
3. "Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak" - The Return of the King by J.R.R Tolkien
4. "Zarek leaned back in his seat as the helicopter took off" - Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon (+18)
5. "I am the vampire Lestat" - The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (+18)
6. "What fresh humiliation does this day bring?" - Lothaire by Kresley Cole (+18)
7. "He hated the forest" - Stolen by Kelley Armstrong (+18)
8. "Still in bed, Lucas eyed the screen on his furiously blinking pager" - Seven Days for an Eternity by Marc Levy
9. ''It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.'' - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
10. "The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane" - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling
11. "I found the note taped to my door when I got home from work." - Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris (+18)
12. "I never thought I would beg for death." - Arise by Amber Garr
13. "Goddamn it, Zsadist! Don't jump—"- Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward (+18)
14. "From the river, it looked as if two suns were setting over London " - Interred with Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell
15. "Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife." - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

12 Days of 2012: Day 3 Best Book Couples

 BEST BOOK COUPLES

Hey everyone! Today is a new day of lists *yay*. As you know, I'm a big fan of anything romance. I'm not ashamed to say it even in real life and I never hide the book I'm reading (if I get weird looks, I always respond with "hey, at least I'm reading".) But that's not the point.

Over the course of this year I've fallen madly in love with some couples. They make me laugh, cry, cringe and sometimes very, very mad. But mostly happy. I read about them and my day just gets better. I'm going to share the top 10 couples that I've read about this year. Before I start, I'll let you know that I'm only going to talk about the main characters of the book/s or series. I'll leave secondary characters and couples alone (even though there is one couple of secondary characters that I adore, but I'm afraid that would be spoilerish). Oh, one other thing. I know I say "top 10" and they're all numbered, but believe me when I say that: 1. the order is completely unimportant, I love them all like crazy and 2. there are so many more couples that I loved to read about in 2012, but I can't list them all, sorry.

So here it goes:

1. Rose & Dimitri - Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy) by Richelle Mead - She's funny, smart, sarcastic, he looks great (at least in my imagination) and he has GREAT taste in music. What more can you wish for? (read my review here)
2. Elena & Clayton - Bitten (Women of the Otherworld) by Kelley Armstrong - I love werewolves. I have other reasons to love this couple, but I'll keep it simple :D (read my review here)
3. Keely & Jack - All Jacked Up (Rough Riders) by Lorelei James - The wild McKay girl finds her match! I've reread this book many times, but I can never get tired of it. 
4. Anna & Kai - Sweet Evil (The Sweet Evil Trilogy) by Wendy Higgins - They complete each other in a way that is so cute and sexy at the same time. (read my review here)
5. Gin & Owen - Venom (Elemental Assassins) by  Jennifer Estep - I love them together. And Owen is a really great guy, unlike "Look-at-me-I-have-no-spine" Donovan Caine.
6. Eviana & Kain - Arise (The Syrenka) by Amber Garr - I was surprised by this couple, because I didn't think they were a great match in the beginning. But now I have to say that I couldn't have imagined a different ending to their story. (read my review here)
7. Jaime & Jeremy - No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld) by Kelley Armstrong - Do I need to say why? I know it will surprise you, but I really love Jeremy *giggles* That is, in case you didn't know already :P (read my review here)
8. Mana & Vaughn - A Feast of Souls (Araneae Nation) by Hailey Edwards- Can't say the whys,  because this book just came out yesterday and not many managed to read it so fast, I think. It's just that their story has a favorite element of mine :D (read my review here)
9. Ellie & Lothaire - Lothaire (Immortals After Dark) by Kresley Cole - Lothaire *drool* And Ellie was very funny and smart. And she kept the big, bad-ass vampire on his toes :D (read my review here)
10. Sidney & Adrian - Bloodlines (Bloodlines) by Richelle Mead - I might not have liked Adrian so much in the Vampire Academy series (I had eyes only for Dimitri), but he's growing on me in Bloodlines. And I think he's perfect for Sidney.

What about you? Do you have a favorite couple or two or three that you read about this year?