Book Review: The Dead List by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: N/A
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Wattpad
Blurb (from Goodreads):

The Dead List is a full standalone novel, coming in at roughly 93,000 words. It’s a Young Adult Romantic Suspense Yes. Lots of Romance. Sort of like Don’t Look Back, but a throwback to movies like Scream and the sort of campy fun ones. Think I Know What You Did Last Summer meets Scream. But with more romance.

There are authors out there that stick with you. They have a certain writing style that you fall in love with and you always feel the need to keep reading their stories no matter what. One of those authors for me is Jennifer L. Armentrout. Something in her writing style makes me want to keep coming back, regardless of what genre she writes in, no matter if it's YA or New Adult. I need to read every book she's ever written.

The Dead List is pretty creepy. You might not know this about me, but I'm not one of those people scared of clowns. I don't particularly like them, but they don't freak me out. If I'm at a carnival and some random dude is dressed as a clown, I don't run away screaming. (I know, I might be the only human that doesn't get freaked out by them...). However, this book managed to make me fear the creatures a little bit.

You can easily figure out that something bad happened to one of the characters. It's in the tone of the story, it makes sense. But what happened and why remained a mystery until the very end for me. I liked the pacing of the book a lot. There's a movie-esque feeling to it, with really important parts being separated by flash-backs.

Ella was an interesting character. I love how JLA wrote her as a strong character. I loved the fact that Ella decides to not be a victim, but instead she chooses to find means to defend herself. Of course, JLA never fails at writing strong women in her books, so this character is no different.

I honestly didn't imagine the ending being what it was. The twists were interesting and really made it feel like I was watching a thriller. I loved this book a lot. I can't wait for more books like this one by Armentrout.

Wednesday Chatter #10: Things Movies and TV Shows Have That Books Need

Wednesday Chatter is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books where we'll be talking about anything and everything related to books and reading. Click here if you want to see what we talked about in the previous weeks


WARNING: Some bad words might be used in the following post. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Things Movies And TV Shows Have That Books Need
~or in which I prove I'm a huge nerd~

I've been thinking lately about why I love movies and TV shows. Sure, it's about the subject itself, but sometimes it's more than that. It's about all the extra stuff that movies and TV shows get to have. Though it's movies that get the cake (so unfair in certain cases). I know other bloggers have done this, but I thought I'd throw in my own opinion. So without further ado here are things that movies have that I want my books to have as well:

• Video Games

You might not know this about me, but I'm a gamer. I love video games. Epic video games. Big games that occupy a huge chunk of your time. Games like Diablo, Heroes of Might and Magic, Zeus (and other history themed builder games). I remember when I got my hands on the Battle for Middle Earth II I didn't resurface in the real world for...oh, about the entire summer I had it. A friend from high school had given me his game and I was ecstatic. Especially since you could play both as the good guys and as the bad guys and with playing for the bad side I GOT TO HAVE MY OWN BALROG!!!

 

I also remember being very, very pissed off that in Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone I couldn't find all the trading cards. I'm still sore about that one! 

But anyway. Imagine having a Vampire Academy/Bloodlines video game. Where you get to be Rose and train with Dimitri, kick Strigoi ass, travel to Siberia and back, have epic missions, especially the final test from book 4. Or you could be Sydney and get to navigate the world of vampires as an Alchemist. Or even better, you could play as Adrian and aside from being awesome, you could learn how to control Spirit.

Or you could have the Throne of Glass video game and be Celaena and get to kick everyone's ass and you could have Chaol in front of you *dreamy sigh*. Don't even get me started on a Dark Hunter or a Demonica/Lords of Deliverance video game.

 

 
• Deleted Scenes

I know that sometimes, scenes get cut in movies and TV shows, and in some really cool cases, they include some of those on the DVDs. I need this from books too. There are some awesome authors that share some of these deleted scenes, but I need more. I'm greedy!

• Bloopers

My favorite part about TV shows. Bloopers. I live to see bloopers. If they're as funny as the ones from Supernatural, even better. I don't know how this could happen with books, but I'm just throwing it out there, in case someone with much more intelligence than I have can figure this one out.

• Character Interviews

I don't mean like the ones done for blog tours. I mean like the ones where actor pairs (couples in tv shows/movies) do the "Newlyweds" or "Know Your Co-star" type of interviews. I would so, so, so love to see some of my book OTPs do interviews like these.

• Extra Videos 

Here's what I mean by extra videos. I got my hands on a Collector's Edition of The Two Towers (thank you, thrift shops!). And there's tons of videos about how they made some of the sets, how they decided which scenes to include in the movie, how they used the source material for the movie. Same with the Arrow DVD. And many, many other TV shows and movies do this. I know there are Reading guides and Insider's Guides for certain book series, but the ones that I've read so far are basically just a short version of the books themselves. They just go over everything that happened already, without giving any extra material. I want Insider's Guides to have new material. And I don't mean character physical descriptions, either. 

• Epic collector's items

I would do whatever it takes to get my hands on the Lord of the Rings Mattel collector's dolls, just like I would do whatever it takes to get my hands on Amma's (The Caster Chronicles) special tarot cards deck. Or on some Women of the Otherworld dolls and/or wolf figurines. Thankfully, some of the special, book inspired items than one can dream of are on this magical website called Etsy. But I need more.

What about you? What are the things that movies and TV shows get that you want books to have too?

Book Review: Somebody Up There Hates You by Hollis Seamon

Author: Hollis Seamon
Series: N/A
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Release Date: September 3rd 201
My Rating: 4 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Chemo, radiation, a zillion surgeries, watching my mom age twenty years in twenty months: if that’s part of the Big Dude’s plan, then it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? Somebody Up There Hates You.

SUTHY has landed me here in this hospice, where we—that’s me and Sylvie—are the only people under 30 in the whole place, sweartogod. But I’m not dead yet. I still need to keep things interesting. Sylvie, too. I mean, we’re kids, hospice-hostages or not. We freak out visitors; I get my uncle to sneak me out for one insane Halloween night. Stuff like that. And Sylvie wants to make things even more interesting. That girl’s got big plans.

Only Sylvie’s father is so nuclear-blasted by what’s happened to his little girl, he glows orange, I swear. That’s one scary man, and he’s not real fond of me. So we got a major family feud going on, right here in hospice. DO NOT CROSS line running down the middle of the hall, me on one side, her on the other. It’s crazy.

In the middle of all of this, really, there’s just me and Sylvie, a guy and a girl. And we want to live, in our way, by our own rules, in whatever time we’ve got. We will pack in some living before we go, trust me.

If you follow my blog you know that I usually stay away from sad books. Sure, I might read books about tortured characters, but all in all my books end on a happy note. With a HEA for our main character(s). You know that I also like to experiment with my books once in a while, that I try to change things up a little. I'm trying to grow as a reader, is what I'm trying to say. So while I was looking at the books on my shelves trying to decide which one to read for a beach read, Somebody Up There Hates You stood out.

First, I have to say that I read this book over a period of three weeks. This is strange, because usually I read books kind of fast. The problem was that at some points, I had to stop reading. Mentally, I needed a break. The story would suck me in, and I'd forget where I was and then BAM! it reminded me that Richard was sick. And I don't do well with sick children, so I needed breaks.

The story broke my heart into tiny little pieces at times. At times it was like I was in the hospice room with Richard, seeing him. I liked his voice, I liked how he told the story. What broke my heart even more was the fact that he would try to assure people that he'd get better. Sylvie too, she'd talk about the future. Of course, they both knew that it couldn't happen, which is why it was so heartbreaking.

At times I understood the other characters' frustration with Richard and Sylvie. I really could put myself in their shoes and understand their perspective. It was strange, because usually with 1st person narration that doesn't happen to me.

Of course, I can't help but wonder if he and Sylvie would've still fell in love had they not been in hospice, had they been school mates. Makes me wonder if maybe that is why the ending was left as it was.

I loved the ending. I usually don't like books to be open-ended, but in this case I liked it. I don't think I would've been okay with a closed ending, with one of them dying. I'm sure one of them (maybe both) dies in the end, but it was better to not know for sure. Who knows, maybe they do get better and live happily ever after.

Obsessed With Covers #24: Down With The Shine, Ghost On The Lake

Y'all know how much I love a pretty cover. I think about...40% of the books that end up on my shelves (be they physical or digital) do so because of the covers. Call me shallow but you have to admit that a pretty, shiny cover will catch your eye faster than a dull, boring one. Two, simple rules that I'll follow:

• 1, 2 or 3 (no more than 3, though) covers per week;
• books should be new-ish; no more than 2 years old.

Oh, before I share the covers that made me drool or want to stare at them for hours and hours, I have to say something. This is a semi-original idea. Why semi? Because almost every book blogger has something similar. The only thing I came up with was the title. If by any chance there's another blogger with a similar feature with the same title, I assure you I'm not stealing your idea. I'm just THAT bad with titles. Believe me, I'd love to be smarter and have a witty name for this feature, but I don't. So, no copyright infringement/theft/steal or anything of the sort was desired. All I can say is sorry :P

So, here are the prettiest covers I've seen this week.

I love, love, love this cover. I love the smoky drink/potion, which reminds me of home-made drinks. Then there are the stars in the background. I find it very interesting that the stars are sort of coming out of the potion's smoke. Makes me wonder exactly what does the drink do. Also, there are shadows on the sky surrounding the jar, but again, the jar is lit up. I must own this book based just on the cover.







Down with the Shine - Kare Karyus Quinn

This cover is gorgeous. If it were a painting, I'd hang it up above my bookshelves. The fact that we're seeing the lake from the bottom is amazing. And I love that the person is looking down. If this is part of a series, I'd love for the next cover to be from the person's perspective, see what they see at the bottom of the lake.

Ghost on the Lake - Alex Alexander

Book Review Tour + Excerpt: Servicing The Target by Cherise Sinclair (+18)

 

Author: Cherise Sinclair

Series: Masters of the Shadowlands #10
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
Release Date: July 28th 2015
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: InkSlingerPR
Blurb (from Goodreads):

A discharged Army Ranger, Ben considers his job as a BDSM club security guard to be an excellent hobby. He’s never been tempted to join in. But everything changes when the notorious Mistress Anne inadvertently reveals the caring heart concealed beneath her Domme armor.

Now, he’s set his sights on the beautiful Shadowlands Mistress. Maybe he’d considered himself vanilla, but she can put her stiletto on his chest any day, any time. He’ll trust her delicate hands to hold his heart. And if she wants to whip his ass on the way to an outstanding climax, he’s just fine with that too.

Sure, he knows she likes “pretty boy” slaves. And he’s older. Craggy and rough. And six-five. Minor hindrances. The mission is a go.

Buy Links:  Amazon ** iTunes ** GooglePlay ** Barnes & Noble ** Kobo ** ARe


*Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If there's one author not afraid of taking her readers into a new world with each book and making sure that they not only are going to learn something new about the world she's creating and about themselves,but also have a great time reading the story, that author is Cherise Sinclair. With each book of hers that I read I am in awe of how many new things and situations and relationships she's introduced me to and how she makes sure that even though the reader might be new and scared, they will at least get a new perspective on the BDSM lifestyle and culture.

Mistress Anne went from being the scary, sadist Domme everyone feared to being someone that I'd truly love to have a conversation with and maybe even be her friend. She's a really interesting character and seeing her both as a woman and as a domme was really interesting. The two roles fit her so well and made her character seem so real and complete. And I liked her artistic side. It made her look even more different than what I first thought of her.

Ben was a surprise. I did not see that one coming. When the news that Ben was going to be Anne's partner hit I didn't see it. I couldn't. I was so used to him being the quiet guy at the entrance, I never for a minute imagined he was going to be the man he turned out to be. Hearing both of their stories made me fall in love with these characters, because it was easy to see why they fit together so well. Not just because of their pasts, but also because they work so well together.

Old characters also appear in this book and it was nice to get updates on them. I can't wait to see who's next to find his/her match.

When I first heard that Mistress Anne was getting her own book I was a bit scared, to be honest. But after having read her and Ben's story  I have the confirmation yet again of why I love Sinclair's books so much.

EXCERPT

     Lifting her sax, she wetted the reed and tested a wandering set of notes. With one hip on the railing, she let her internal playlist scroll and found herself playing “As Time Goes By.” Like a soft rain, the notes spilled over her deck and joined with the evening. A slow song, but not sad. It reminded her that the fundamentals of life, living and loving and dying, held the same from generation to generation.
That life could change for the better.
     She was changing, as was her world. Or maybe she should call it growing, rather than changing.
     As the tune went into the chorus, she heard Ben say something to Bronx in the kitchen. The dog whined an answer, and Ben’s big laugh rumbled out.
     He was quite a guy. He’d been so careful with her this afternoon. Not pushing, but not stopping before he’d made his point.
     Sometimes his internal strength was a bit disconcerting. All her slaves had wanted her in charge, wanted her to take control of everything. But Ben didn’t need her guidance.
     At the same time, he wouldn’t fall apart if she showed any weakness, and because of that, she could relax around him.
     But his obstinate need to be tough—to hide any weakness—was a problem. She should have noticed he was having flashbacks. But now she knew, and she could lead him to talk about his past. She’d pamper him up, keep him close, and ensure he got his sleep. He said he slept better at her house. With her.
     He liked being with her. The realization was…amazing. Overwhelming.
     She felt the same and more. He’d filled her life. Warmed it.
     With a slow flourish, she ended the song and started another. One that had been growing in her heart over the past week, with the knowledge, the worry, the awe.“When I Fall in Love.” The music flowed, the ache of her soul merging with the notes.
     She’d wanted to run. To push him away. And she hadn’t.
     Ben, I love you.
     The knowledge was terrifying and wonderful. For a little while yet, she’d savor the gift, and then she’d share.
     Light washed out over the deck, and he stood there, filling the doorway as completely as he did her heart. “I was listening to you play.”
     His golden-brown eyes held hers as he slowly smiled. “Mistress, may this submissive haul you off to bed?”

ABOUT CHERISE SINCLAIR:

Having to wear glasses in elementary school can scar a person for life.


Dubbed a nerd at an early age, Cherise Sinclair has been trying to live up to the stereotype ever since. And what better way than being an author?

Known for writing deeply emotional stories, the USA Today Bestselling Author has penned sixteen erotic romance novels, most with a BDSM theme. (Please do not mention the phrase mommy porn in her presence.) Her awards range from a National Leather Award to a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice nomination to a GoodReads BDSM group award for best author of the year.

Cherise lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. Their two fledglings have left the nest recently to try their wings and hopefully will fly high and strong. The “ascendant erotica queen” (Rolling Stone Magazine) now spends her days writing with occasional supervision from a sadistic calico cat.

Website**Facebook**Twitter**Author Goodreads**Novel Goodreads**1001 Dark Nights

Book Review: Confessions Of A Virgin Sex Columnist! by Kay Marie

Author: Kay Marie
Series: Confessions #1
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: May 18th 2015
My Rating: 4 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

From bestselling author Kaitlyn Davis, writing as Kay Marie, comes a new adult romantic comedy about a girl who'll soon discover that some secrets can't be kept forever, especially those of the heart.

My name is Skylar Quinn. I just moved to New York with my best friend Bridget, and I have a confession. Well, more than one. Okay, quite a few really. Fine, here goes!

Confession #1: I'm a sex columnist. Hold on, that's not really the confession. You see, I'm sort of a virgin...sex columnist.

Confession #2: I'm kind of in love with Bridget's older brother, Oliver. No, I was. No, I am. Wait, was? Am? Crap.

Confession #3: I've been avoiding Oliver for four years. Or I was until today, because he just moved in. Yes, you read that correctly. He's my new roommate. So that night we've both been pretending never happened, well, we might not be able to keep it a secret any longer.

And trust me, this is only the beginning.

*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review


I stumbled across this book a few weeks ago on one of my bookish hunts on Netgalley. I am very happy I took a chance on this book, because I really enjoyed reading it.

Skylar was an easy character to like. She rambles a lot and she's really shy and slightly awkward. It was also really easy to relate to her. There's this moment in the book where she explains to herself and the audience why she's still a virgin and I loved that scene. She freaked out a lot, usually because of nothing. While some might find that annoying, I snorted at one point, because in a way I'm the same way. So it was really easy to understand her freak-outs. I loved that at a certain point she gave Oliver a taste of his own medicine. That was a cool scene. Also, karaoke scene! I loooove when I read karaoke scenes. Since I'm a chicken, I never do karaoke, so it's great to live vicariously through characters.

Ollie wasn't what I expected. At first he seemed a bit immature, to be honest. I also thought it was kind of strange that he started paying attention to Skye once she started her new job and started dating someone. I was rooting for the other guy, to be honest. I did understand in a way what he did four years prior. Not the way he did it, but his reasons.

Something that I loved a lot were the confessions. They were presented at the start of each chapter, and it was such a cool way to mark new chapters. It felt like each chapter was in itself a confession.

The ending surprised me a lot. I did not expect a cliffhanger. I am curious what happens next, so I'll definitely be on the lookout for when the next book comes out.