Book Review: Elite by Rachel Van Dyken

Author: Rachel Van Dyken
Series: Eagle Elite #1
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: July 9th 2013
My Rating: 2.5 cups
Source: NetGalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

When I won the annual Eagle Elite College Scholarship lottery, I was thrilled. After all, my grandma had just died and I wanted to take care of my aging grandpa -- he couldn't be a farmer in Wyoming forever. And graduating from Eagle Elite meant opportunity.

But I wasn't counting on meeting Nixon.

Nor was I counting on the rules of the Elect.

1. Do not touch The Elect.
2. Do not look at The Elect.
3. Do not speak to The Elect.

And worst of all? Don't discover the secret they hide, because in the end, you may just realize... it's about you.

*This is a New Adult Book, blood, violence, cursing, sexual references, and drug use. Not recommended for those under 17.*

You know how sometimes you get so excited about a book, you get these really high expectations? This was what happened to me with Elite. I read the blurb and I immediately wanted to read the book. I was sure it had mystery, angst, drama. And the warning got me even more curious.

The book started okay. I always enjoy the "small town girl gets to leave her small town and have a chance at a career she never would've had otherwise" stories. And this book had the potential of being very good. But then something happened.

The first thing that bothered me was the bullying. There's a lot of bullying in this book. Bullying that I didn't understand. Don't get me wrong, I think all bullying is pointless and stupid and it should disappear off the face of the Earth, but the amount of bullying in this particular book make no sense to me. Especially when you get to the end of the book and you get to have some answers to a few of your questions about the characters. What amazed me even more was the person doing the bullying at first, but most of all his reasoning. The "I'll treat you like crap so others won't" mentality never quite worked for me. I wanted to like Nixon. He seems like the kind of bad boy most girls fall for, but I felt he was a little bipolar at times.

The second thing that I didn't exactly understand was Tracey's attraction to Nixon. He might be sexy, he might be dangerous and something completely different than all the boys she's ever known before, but he treats her like crap. Why would you give a guy like that the time of day, I have no idea. She's also a little too weak for my taste. She didn't stand up for herself nearly as much as she should have. I would have at least told a few of the mean kids to eff off.

The only thing that really kept me going in this book was the mystery behind Tracey and Nixon's families. I kept wondering who they were and how they were related. And, I must confess, I kept hoping there was something supernatural about the book. It could have been anything, really, because there were a lot of things that pointed in a very subtle way in that direction.

I really wanted to be amazed by this book. It had a lot of potential and it had some elements I've never read about before. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me :(

Cover Reveal: Red Dirt Road by Annie Rose Welch

Red Dirt Road by Annie Rose Welch

Book 2 in the Saving Angels series

Adult romance

Expected Publication: September 24th, 2013

The Saving Angels Series continues…

A new cast is introduced, while journeys already taken start to merge with the present, leading you down the old Red Dirt Road.

Death has always seemed just one step behind Layla Hill, taking almost everyone she’s ever loved. After she loses the love of her life, Layla vows to never love again—how could she, when she’s a death magnet?

Trying to outrun fate traveling with her uncle Willie and his band, Layla meets Michael Roberts, a beautiful Irish boxer as gentle on the piano as he is brutal in the ring. He proves as relentless in life, fighting for a place in her world even as she pushes him away, trying to protect him from her killer tendencies.

But neither foresees the sinister presence waiting for Layla at the end of the Red Dirt Road.

GCRPromotions is currently organizing a tour for Red Dirt Road. If you're interested in being a stop on the tour, sign up HERE.

#SassyGirlSwoonyGod Tourney: Challenge #1

Ruby = Mermaid

It's time for the first challenge in the Sassy Girl Swoony God tourney. You can watch the video or you can head out to Tellulah Darling's website and read all about it there.




Before we get to my answer to the challenge though, let me tell you more about My Ex From Hell, the first book in the The Blooming Goddess Trilogy.

Sixteen-year-old Sophie Bloom wishes she’d been taught the following:

a) Bad boy’s presence (TrOuBlE) + teen girl’s brain (DraMa) = TrAuMa (Highly unstable and very volatile.)
b) The Genus Greekulum Godissimus is notable for three traits: 1) awesome abilities, 2) grudges, and 3) hook-ups, break-ups, and in-fighting that puts cable to shame.

Prior to the Halloween dance, Sophie figures her worst problems involve adolescent theatrics, bitchy teen yoga girls, and being on probation at her boarding school for mouthy behaviour. Then she meets bad boy Kai and gets the kiss that rocks her world.

Literally.

This breath stealing lip lock reawakens Sophie’s true identity: Persephone, Goddess of Spring. She’s key to saving humanity in the war between the Underworld and Olympus, target numero uno of Hades and Zeus, and totally screwed.

Plus there’s also the little issue that Sophie’s last memory as Persephone was just before someone tried to murder her.

Big picture: master her powers, get her memories back, defeat Persephone’s would be assassin, and save the world. Also, sneak into the Underworld to retrieve stolen property, battle the minions of Hades and Zeus, outwit psycho nymphs, slay a dragon, rescue a classmate, keep from getting her butt expelled from the one place designed to keep her safe …

… and stop kissing Kai, Prince of the Underworld.

My Ex From Hell is a YA romantic comedy/Greek mythology smackdown. Love meets comedy with a whole lot of sass in book one of this teen fantasy romance series. Compared to Kai and Sophie, Romeo and Juliet had it easy.

Now, in case you haven't yet read the book *narrows eyes* you should go ahead and do it. It's very, very good. And funny.

Now for the challenge.

Photo courtesy of  Wikipedia

I chose the Mahé Island from Seychelles. It looks like a great spot to go to, especially if a sexy, charming guy is with you *swoon*.

See you next week in the tourney, for the second challenge!

Top Ten Tuesday #4: Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR List!

Top Ten Tuesday is weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.
Each week, they will post a new Top Ten list that one of the bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join, just link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Top Four Books On My Fall TBR List! 

This is a pretty hard post, because I'm battling bookhangover. As you know I loved Sherrilyn Kenyon's Styxx and right now, there aren't so many books that call to me. I'm pretty sure that once it passes, I'll be able to recognize the books I'm very anxious about, but so far, almost two weeks after I've read that book, I'm still not over it *blushes*

1. Reaver - Larissa Ione - It's Reaver. Seriously, I need to say more than that?
2. The Edge of Always - J.A. Redmerski - I loved The Edge Of Never and I am so looking forward to more Andrew and very good song suggestions :D But mostly Andrew
   
3. The Fiery Heart - Richelle Mead - Now, I know I didn't read The Indigo Spell, but there's a good reason for it: I know how hard it is to wait for the "next" book in this series, so I decided I'd better have two installments to read at once than just bite my nails in between the two. It's not a pretty sight!
4. Tandem - Anna Jarzab - When I was a little girl, I always dreamed of something like this happening, only the good parts in those other me versions would come into my life. Naturally, I have to read this book :D

What about you? What books are you impatiently waiting for this fall?

Sunday Book Soundtrack #11: Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Sunday Book Soundtrack is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books, where I share some of my bookish soundtracks. Since I discovered my passion for reading years ago, I've discovered that more and more of the songs I loved remind me of certain books. So I thought I'd share my playlists with you. If you want to listen to the songs, I'll post a link to a Youtube videos for each and every title. No copyright infringement intended! I'll try to find the official videos for each song. There's no set number for each playlist, sometimes I might have 10, sometimes 5, sometimes if I'm one of my moods I'll have 15. If you want to read more about this feature, click the "show more" button below. 

I read with music. If there's no music, I can't read. And not just read, but almost anything, like studying of cooking or doing chores around the house. The only time I don't have music is when I sleep. And during exams, but that's a different story.

Sometimes it happens that a certain song and a book or a scene from the book I'm reading sort of... click. It's like they were made for each other. At least for me. And so I will almost always think of that particular book when hearing that song. I thought I'd share my book soundtracks with you.

Keep in mind that I have a very... weird taste in music. You'll find mostly rock music, country or the 80s-early 90s music in these lists. I might use some "contemporary" songs from now and then, but don't bet on it being something other than those particular genres. Also, not always the songs will be in English. If I have a link to a translation for the lyrics, I'll post it. If you like a song I'm using, that's fine. If not, that's fine too, just don't say I didn't warn you.

The songs aren't always on a book's playlist for their lyrics. Sometimes they're there for an instrument or for a feeling I get when hearing them. Also, I won't always mention what scene I used them for. If it's not a spoiler, I'll share the scene, if it is a spoiler, I'll let you guess.

Anyway, I hope you like my playlists :)

This week's book soundtrack is for Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead.

Cinderella - Coming Home
Nickelback - Follow you home
Lita Ford & Ozzy Osborne- Close My eyes Forever
Three Days Grace-Take Me Under
Alter Bridge - Rise Today

Reading Blogs & Eating Popcorn #4

Reading Blogs & Eating Popcorn is a weekly feature here at Ruby's Books, in which I share some of the posts written by other fellow book bloggers over the last week, posts that I loved so much I have to share. 

• The first post comes from Michelle @ Pink Polka Dot Book Blog. She talks about Blogger Jealousy. I cannot explain to you how much this post resonated with me, but let's just say I understand completely what Michelle is talking about. (Emily @ Read Your Bookcase is her cohost and she has a great post on this topic as well)
• The next post is from Renae @ Respiring Thoughts and it's called On Reader/Author Interaction. It's an interesting take on a pretty touchy subject, especially given the frictions we hear about in the book blogging comunity. 
• Carol @ Carol's Notebook talks about Reading vs Listening. I can't say I'm a huge fan of audiobooks, though I do love the idea of being able to listen to a book while doing something else. Of course, I'm so clumsy I'd probably end up hurting myself if I tried it, but that's another topic :P
• Amanda @ On A Book Bender shares 3 Uncomfortable Truths About Blogging. They might be uncomfortable, but they're real, so think of the post as some much-needed tough love.

I've read so many fantastic posts this week and I'm certain I missed some of them. I'd fill up an entire page with them, but then I'll look like a stalker :P. What about you? Did you read any blog posts this week that you feel anyone should?