January (2012) Book Haul (3)

Hi guys, today I'm going to tell you about winning a book from a blog. I can't believe it... I never really win anything, so winning three things in the span of 2 weeks is amazing. I appreciate all the blogs having these contests, and the authors for writing these amazing books. I hope I keep winning though. The one I won that I'm going to talk about today is Angel Evolution by David Estes, I won an e-book of this, I'm excited to read this one, and I'm very glad I won it. Here is the cover:

Doesn't it look amazing? I'll post a review of this book, when I finish it...(which I haven't started yet... but I hope to soon!) :D

January (2012) Book Haul (2)

I won another contest, I found out about it this morning. I won a copy of Article 5 and a copy of The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland. I won the books from this site Pub(lishing) Crawl Blog: http://www.publishingcrawl.com. I will most likely have a giveaway for the Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland... but it's undecided yet, here are the covers for the books:

Dystopian Domination Part 2

Hi Guys,
Today I'm going to be discussing a huge event in the YA blogosphere. The name of it is the Dystopian Domination (Part 2). If you have never heard of this here is a quick wrap-up of what it's about from one of the creators:

It's just this month long celebration for books in the wonderful and all too awesome dystopia genre. And for those who participated last year, it was a month filled with awesome interviews, reviews, insights from various authors and fabulous giveaways.
And this year...
WE ARE BACK!
And.. we're here for a:
BIGGER.
BETTER.
DYSTOPIAN DOMINATION BLOG EVENT!
How so? You may ask. Well for this year, we are featuring dystopian books, AND we included some wonderful Apocalypsies and 2012 debut authors in our line up as well!
How about that? Want a copy of Hemlock? How about Insignia? The Forgetting Curve? Or Stormdancer? I am lusting over those four books, just so you know. Even I am not getting my own copy. So yep, you'll have your chance to get your hands on these wonderful books and you'll also get to know the authors as well! Isn't that awesome or what?

I'm sorry I'm posting this so late. But I figured better now than never, so here it is... I hope you guys can still win some cool things, just as I hope I can. If I win some things, be looking forward to some giveaways! Here is the link to the original post for the Dystopian Domination Part 2 on the Amaterasu Reads blog: http://amaterasureads.blogspot.com/2012/01/introducing-dystopian-domination-part-2.html. Here is the link to the other blog hosting this event, Fragments of Life:http://shusky20.blogspot.com/2012/01/dystopian-domination-2-schedule-button.html. Don't forget to follow the blog while you're there (and if you want to get a head-start on some of our giveaways here, follow this blog now!). :D

January (2012) Book Haul

Hi guys,
Today I received a piece of mail from a certain YA author. Her name is Kim Harrington, author of the Clarity series. I entered her Perception giveaway and I won a signed bookmark, and a signed bookplate. I was really excited when I got it today, because this was the first giveaway for swag I've won. Here are the pictures of the Bookmark/Bookplate:

Check out these great books (Clarity/Perception). I haven't read them yet, but I have wanted to for a long time, and I can't wait to now. I hope you guys are as excited as I am. :D

Skinned (Frozen) Book Review

Hi Guys,
Today I'm reviewing Skinned by Robin Wasserman. The reason I have Frozen in parenthesis in the title of this post, is because recently the book series' name and look was changed. I don't know why, but it was, I have the original copies (and personally I like them better than the newer ones... don't get me wrong, I like the new ones as well). Skinned is based in a futuristic world, where everything is basically virtual. For humans life is great, but for "skinners" (robotic forms of someone who has passed) life is full of ridicule, and hate. Lia Khan becomes a "skinner" after dying in a car crash. This book is the story of how she deals with her new life. Here is the synopsis from the back of the book:

The Download was supposed to change the world. It was supposed to mean the end of aging the end of death, the birth of a new humanity. But it wasn't supposed to happen to someone like Lia Kahn.
And it wasn't supposed to ruin her life.
Lia knows she should be grateful she didn't die in the accident. The Download saved her--but it also changed her, forever. She can deal with being a freak. She can deal with the fear in her parents' eyes and the way her boyfriend flinches at her touch. But she can't deal with what she knows, deep down, every time she forces herself to look in the mirror: She's not the same person she used to be.
Maybe she's not even a person at all.

My first impression of this book was good, I liked the cover, it looked very futuristic and robotic to me (two things I'm very interested in). When I started reading the book, I was drawn in, the description of what it felt like to die, was amazing, and the description of what the Download was and what it took to accomplish it was very informative, and easy to follow. But then the book hit a wall. It happened when she was trying to rehabilitate... I know rehabilitation takes time, but it was very boring to me for about 50 pages. Then when she got out it got a little better, although I didn't like her attitude for most of the book. But it's understandable because she goes from being a popular girl to a "skinner". I didn't really like all the cussing either, I thought using so much of it was obsessive and unnecessary. I think the book would have been better without it, but that's my personal opinion. The ending of the book left me wanting more, I love the "skinners" and I can't wait to learn more about them in the next book. I give this book 3/5 stars because of the reason lifted above. I would definitely recommend this book to people who love futuristic novels. It's different than most futuristic novels, normally I would call them dystopians but this one is different somehow, so I'll leave it at futuristic. I liked it a lot, and I look forward to the next two books (Crashed and Wired).

Additional Announcement: Here is the cover of the newer edition of this book: