Book Review: Pandemonium

Title: Pandemonium

Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: February 28th, 2012

Find Lauren Oliver Online: Twitter | Website | Blog | Facebook

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

My $0.02

I didn’t think I was going to be this affected by this book.  Everyone has a number one most favorite book.  Well, that book became your number one most favorite because there was something about it that touched you personally or something about it that tugged and hooked onto you—hard.  After you find a book like that and the feelings you felt when you read it, you’re constantly on the search for the next book that will deliver that same high to you—a higher high than that favorite book, even.  My point is, those kinds of books are rare.  You can read a thousand books and all of them could become your favorite but only a small percentage of those would be your most favorite; you’ll like all of them but you’ll only love a few of them.  Okay, I shouldn’t make this such a general statement because I’m not sure about anyone else but for me, this is true.

It’s no secret that Delirium, very quickly, became one of these books for me.  Something about everything in those 441 pages that made it unforgettable.  The words tumbled out of the pages and whispered sweet nothings into my soul (no joke!) and before I knew it, I couldn’t, I wouldn’t not love this amazing series.  So, of course I was very eager to dive head first into Pandemonium.  When I start the next book in a series, I get bored—sometimes.  For example, with the way how Delirium ended, I wanted to open up Pandemonium and get taken right back to the very second where Lena was before my eyes swam across that last word in Delirium.  But naturally, that didn’t happen.  Various times during my reading of Pandemonium, I kept searching for that little thing that would stand out to me and make it better than Delirium and overall, Pandemonium was highly enjoyable but for some reason, it was…slow to me.  I was looking for that spark that would pull me back in whenever I lost a little bit of interest.

Oliver distributed those “sparks” perfectly—right when I was going to close the book and stop my reading for the night, I was pulled in for another few pages that turned into one more chapter, three more chapters, five more chapters—un. put. down. able!  The slowness for me came when Lena took us back to the then parts of the book, which is ironic because at the beginning, I wanted so badly to know what happened to her after…the ending in Delirium.  All of this was overlooked as I got to the ending.  I knew from many people that the ending in Pandemonium was going to be a killer; I prepared myself, or at least, I tried to.  But no matter how much I tried to prepare myself, when I got to that very last page, the tears came and came and came and came.  I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I became hysterical; my hands were shaking, I ran out of breath, I was making weird shrieking noises—I was a mess. I couldn’t and I still can’t even comprehend…deep sigh.

Pandemonium definitely had a different feel to it than Delirium.  I’m not the biggest fan of dystopians and I guess one reason why I love Delirium so much is because it didn’t really feel like a dystopian to me, not completely.  But when I got to Pandemonium, those dystopian factors were very present and it kind of drew me away from the story.  A lot of bombs were dropped into the plot; Oliver has a way of hinting at them as you read but they’re so vague you hardly pay any attention to them so when they’re brought to light, you’re dumbfounded, left speechless.  I didn’t see a bunch of them coming but after they were explained the oooh effect set in.  Also, Oliver has a way of creating the biggest impact of the entire book on the very last two pages of both books.  So, I highly recommend you staying away from those two pages because without a doubt, you will be spoiled rotten if you flip to them, even accidentally, so don’t even think about looking back there.

Everything that happens in Pandemonium builds you up for the earth-shattering ending.  When people say that the ending will kill you, trust them because they know what they’re talking about!  Pandemonium is a swirl of crazy emotions: angst and confusion and happiness and pain and sadness and cold-heartedness, and so many other emotions that I can’t even identify right now.  Needless to say, Oliver has made a crazy, obsessive fan out of me and I absolutely cannot wait for Requiem—I’ll seriously do anything to get my hands on a copy. Anything, I tell you!  I can’t even believe that we have to wait basically a whole year until we get to see that pretty on shelves! WAAAH!  Anywho, read Pandemonium, stat!  If you’ve read Delirium and you still haven’t gotten to Pandemonium…well, then you’re crazy and I can’t be friends with a crazy! ;) Trust me, read it…because you’ll fall insanely in love with it!  You will, I dare you not too!

Links to purchase Pandemonium: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Waiting on Wednesday (14): Crewel, Silver, and Grave Mercy

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

_________________________________

Title: Crewel

Author: Gennifer Albin

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers

Expected publication: October 16th, 2012

"May Arras flourish at her touch."

For generations, girls known as Spinsters have been called by Arras' Manipulation Services to work the looms and control what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die. Gifted with the unusual ability to weave time with matter, sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys is exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But Adelice isn’t interested. Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

I found out about this one...sometime in January, I believe, and ever since then, I've been keeping tabs on it because it just...flat out sounds amazing and different and unique and a whole lotta awesome! Every time I check back on it, there still isn't a cover for it, but I believe Gennifer said that she has news on that so...keep your eyes out for it; I think it's going to be gorgeous!

Title: Silver

Author: Talia Vance

Publisher: Flux

Expected publication: September 8th, 2012

Beauty is pointless when no one's looking.

Brianna Paxton has been invisible to guys since the eighth grade. She’s pretty enough, it’s just that no one bothers to look. There’s almost nothing that can’t be explained with science, and Brianna has a theory: she’s missing the pheromone that attracts people to one another. Brianna’s theory is shot to hell in one frozen, silver moment, when time stops and Blake Williams not only sees her, he recognizes something inside her that she’s been hiding from even herself.

Before Brianna fully understands who and what she is, she accidentally binds her soul to Blake. Forced to find a way to reconcile forbidden love and her bloody heritage, Brianna discovers that there's nothing pointless about her, and Blake may be in the most danger of all.

"...she’s missing the pheromone that attracts people to one another." That line right there sold me, lol! The minute I read the synopsis, it became my second most highly anticipated 2012 debut! Crewel's my first most highly anticipated. =) But anyway, back to Silver - doesn't it sound awesome?! For some reason, when I read what it was about, faeries came to mind. I don't know why...but I have this weird and strong feeling that faeries are behind this story. I could be completely wrong (most likely) but either way, I wanna read this one. Baaaaad.

Title: Grave Mercy

Author: Robin LaFevers

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Expected publication: April 3rd, 2012

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf? Hellooooo, is it just me or does that quote/tagline sound like it's going to become a big time hit, real soon?! :) Like, you don't have to read anything else from the synopsis. When you read that line, it just screams EPIC ADVENTURE at you, doesn't it? Or am I alone on that one too? Anywho, I've been dying to get my hands on a copy of this one sooooo bad! I'm super duper uper (not a word but I just made it a word like .275 seconds ago; it came from the word uber) excited for this one. I know, I'm super duper uper excited for all three of these but this one sounds right at home to me. I loooove movies that take place during the time era of King Arthur (the movie with Clive Owen), Robin Hood, The Last of the Mohicans, etc. and this book sounds like it's something like that but it's all in words.

#WINNING
_________________________________

So, what are your top picks for this Wednesday? Leave your links below and I'll swing by your blog to check 'em out! Happy Wednesday!

Teaser Tuesday (15)

This meme is brought to you weekly by MizB over at Should Be Reading!

Anyone can play along, just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and the author, too, so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR List if they like your teaser!

I really suck at the two line thingy, no surprise (if you look at all my TT, they're hardly ever just two lines), but this week, I'm really pushin' it. Also, instead of just one teaser, I have two for all of you awesome sugah muffins!

My 1st Teaser

But it's not just me. Everything looks beautiful. The Book of Shhh says that deliria alters your perception, disables your ability to reason clearly, impairs you from making sound judgments. But it does not tell you this: that love will turn the whole world into something greater than itself. Even the dump, shimmering in the heat, an enormous mound of scrap metal and melting plastic and stinking things, seems strange and miraculous, like some alien world transported to earth. In the morning light the seagulls perched on the roof of city hall look like they've been coated in thick white paint; as they light up against the pale blue sky I think I've never seen anything so sharp and clear and pretty in my life. Rainstorms are incredible: falling shards of glass, the air full of diamonds. The wind whispers Alex's name and the ocean repeats it; the swaying trees make me think of dancing. Everything I see and touch reminds me of him, and so everything I see and touch is perfect.

- Page 261-262, Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I could have easily stopped this quote after the third sentence and it would have gotten my point across but I didn't just want to share with you one of my favorite quotes from Delirium, I wanted to share with you the beauty and elegance and simplicity of Lauren Oliver's writing. Those lines that are colored are a few examples of what I love most about Oliver's writing. <333

As some of you know, I just finished Delirium on Sunday and boy, am I still on that high or what! Delirium doesn't leave you with a feeling of, "WOW! THAT WAS AMAZING!" It's more like, "Wow. That was breathtaking." There's a subtle difference. ;) It's just too good to pass up!

My 2nd Teaser

Old words; words that nearly brought me to my knees.
Life free or die.
Four words. Thirteen letters. Ridges, bumpes, swirls under my fingertips.
Another story. We cling tightly to it, and our belief turns it to truth.

- Page 86, Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

I don't even have to say anything about that one. Just know that right now, where I'm at in the story, I'm all sorts of sad. The way how Delirium ended to the way how Pandemonium started...I just...have the strongest gloomy, melancholy feeling hovering above me - I can't shake it! I've become emotionally, mentally and maybe even physically involved in Lena's story that it's become a part of me.

I've heard/read from everyone who has read Pandemonium that it ends with a killer cliffhanger; that makes me scared and excited. As I'm reading, I'm trying to come up with various scenarios as to what could possibly occur on that last page of the book...just so I won't be too shocked...but who am I kidding? We all love those little jaw-dropping surprises! ;)

As if it's not obvious enough, I'm knee-deep into this crazy world that Lauren Oliver has created and...quite frankly, I don't wanna leave it. For a while. But I guess I could spare a little time to check out your Teaser Tuesday, if I must, so leave your link below and I'll be by.

Happy Tuesday!

And because I'm feeling inspirational...or whatever.

Book Review: Delirium

Title: Delirium

Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: February 1st, 2011

Find Lauren Oliver Online: Twitter | Website | Blog | Facebook

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

My $0.02

Wow, Delirium is nothing short of amazing!  I knew before I even started reading that everyone loved it for a reason and sure enough, every good thing anyone said about it was the truth.  It didn’t take long for me to get wrapped up in the words and the beauty of Ms. Oliver’s writing.  Every few paragraphs, the descriptions that Oliver delivered just left me breathless.  I wanted to take a highlighter and light every single word up!  Oliver’s writing flowed together and it was soft and gentle with the truth swimming beneath it all.

It was a trip to read about amor deliria nervosa—what it is, what it does, what it means—I couldn’t wrap my head around it.  I just knew that I kept thinking, “Wow, Lauren Oliver is a pure genius!”  To take this idea of love, something so common to us, and twist it into something so forbidden…just blew my mind away and up into the clouds, into little pieces of nothingness.

Here we are, introduced into this world where without love, all is good in the world.  It’s drilled into everyone’s minds that love, is the deadliest of all deadly things.  Lena can’t wait to get cured so she can be happy…because that’s what they’ve drilled into her.

            Unhappiness is bondage; therefore, happiness is freedom.
            The way to find happiness is through the cure.
            Therefore, it is only through the cure that one finds freedom.

While I’m reading this, my mind’s going off and shouting, “What the eff? What kind of BS is that?!” But of course, this is a fictional story we’re talking about here. ;)  I’m not going to go into detail the plot of the story because you could read and find out for yourself, but I am going to talk about all the times Lena had with Alex because those moments are what stood out to me the most, like they should.  It’s no surprise that Lena and Alex are the leading male and female of Delirium…just so no one’s surprised or spoiled or anything like that.  Anyway, I couldn’t get enough of all the times they spent together.  When they were together it wasn’t like an omg-you’re-so-hot-and-I-want-you kind of thing, it was gentle and sweet and soft—like when you blow bubbles and sometimes you catch a bubble in the palm of your hands and then you cup them together ever so calmly as to not pop the bubble—their love was fragile.  It was sweet, innocent, passionate; they didn’t have to say anything at all to convey the candle of love burning ever so brightly within them.  It was, they are, the Romeo and Juliet of our time.

To point out a few favorite scenes of mine:

·      • When Alex recites back to Lena what she said during her first evaluation. Which is why I nearly jump out of my skin when he leans forward and directs a single word into my ear: “Gray.”

·      • The barn party scene. Alex: “Would you like to?”

Lena: “Would I like to what?”
Alex: “Dance.”
We dance.

·     • When Alex saves her. …and there’s an arm around my waist and a voice in my ear—a voice so familiar in that moment it’s like I’ve been waiting for it all along, like I’ve been hearing it forever in my dreams—breathing out, “This way.”

and last, but most definitely not least:

·     • The tiny wooden shed scene. Lena: “Why do you care?”
Alex: “I told you. I like you.”
Lena: “You don’t know me.”
Alex: “I want to, though.”

Like I said, and I’ll keep saying, Lauren Oliver is a genius, she might even be my hero and another reason why is because in Delirium she kept bringing up how life always goes on.  It doesn’t stop, or slow down for anyone.  There were a few scenes where Lena described how certain events would occur, yet the next day, everything kept going on like usual—people got up to go to work, people got up to clean the house, do the dishes, brush their teeth, go to school, etc. as if nothing ever happened.  And it…just the idea of it, put into words, struck me dumb.  You know how when an idea hits you so hard, you don’t know how to think or function for a while?  Well, yeah Delirium was that idea that hit me like a freight train—caught me in the headlights, leaving me stunned.

Delirium is brilliant and it undeniably wedged its way up into my favorites shelf!  When I turned that last page of the book, Delirium left me with a feeling of happiness and sadness.  Sadness for Lena and Alex because….WAAAAH, how could Delirium just end like that; totally tore me apart!  But happiness also, because it definitely makes you think twice about what you have and after I closed the book, it made me want to love harder, it made me want to shout I love you at the top of my lungs to anyone who cared to listen, it made me hopeful, it made me full, it made me more brave, it made me never, ever want to stop loving, even if I loved the littlest, craziest, weirdest things.  Love.  I’m only eighteen—and what do I know about love—but from all my years, I’ve come to learn that love is a beauty and a beast; there are times when it’s the most amazing thing in the world and times when all you have are black days.  Yet despite all the blackest days of all the blackest days, it’s better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.

Okay, I didn’t mean to get all philosophical on you there but I don’t know man, Delirium did something to me and…deep sigh.  I just love it crazy!  I want everyone to stop reading whatever book they’re reading at the moment and go out and purchase Delirium and Pandemonium (because it’s out and because it’s what I’m going to do after this) and start reading them as fast as you possibly can.  I don’t know how someone cannot not read this book; everyone has too and that’s all there is to it!


Links to purchase Delirium: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

For a decade and eight years...

OH SNAP, I'M EIGHTEEN TODAY! HOLYMOLYHOLYMOLYHOLYMOLYHOLYMOLYHOLYMOLY!

• • • • • • • •

Oh boy, the big one eight; I've been alive for a decade and eight years. When you say eighteen, it doesn't sound all awesome or whatever, but when you say a decade and eight years, it sounds like...a huge milestone or something. Or maybe that's just me. Omg, that also reminds me of Abe Lincoln's Four Score and Seven Years Ago speech thingy, lol. Sorta.

Well, here I am. Technically, it won't be my birthday until 7:42am...which means, that at this exact moment, seventeen years and seven hours ago, my mother was in the hospital, getting ready to push me out. Ack, don't picture that. YUCK. GROSSSSSSSS.

Anyway, these past couple of weeks leading up to...today...have been bittersweet. Yeah, I think that's the word. I don't know, maybe I'm just a weird teen or something but the whole aspect of turning eighteen just isn't so exciting to me. I get that whoop-de-doo, you're an adult now...somewhat...and you get to go do adult stuff...but all those years of being an innocent are gone...kinda. In all reality, turning eighteen is just like any other birthday and eighteen just becomes another number, yet at the same time, things sorta...shift and all those things turn into negative statements. Turning eighteen isn't just like any other birthday, eighteen just doesn't become another number. It marks your year of becoming an adult, of you coming into your own person, of you getting to discover who you are, and so much more.

And I guess all of that is exciting yet I feel like I'm leaving behind a big part of my life. Okay, I'm only saying that because once school ends this summer, I'll be up and outta the house, living in another city, preparing for college. And this is just a personal thing for me, but I so don't wanna leave my bedroom behind. This is the room that built me, the room that witnessed all my ups and downs, the room that was my safe haven, the room that kept me sane in times of insanity, the room that was my home...at home. The room that edured everything with me and after six years...I can't just say bye to it like nothing. WAAAH. Me ish so sad about that. :/ Anyway, leaving to college and all that stuff is probably the reason why I'm feeling....the way I do right now. Ack, like I said the other night on the twittah,

So, with that thought, I'm going to stop worrying about what could possibly happen tomorrow and just enjoy today. My day. My oh so very special day.

And a word from my man:

Anywho, I'm pretty sure I'm all over the place and I'm a mess but....

OH MY GAWH,

I'M EIGHTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN.

If you couldn't tell, I'm feeling very indecisive about turning eighteen, but hey, the age does come with its own ups and downs, right? RIGHT?!

I mean it's exciting yet not so exciting...all at once. Oof, my brain! The neurons must be going cray-crazy!

#Alex18Birthday || @JLArmentrout

♫ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ALEXANDRIA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! ♫

BWAHAHAHAHA, isn't that the cutest/funniest thing ever? I hope Alex just blows out her candles and doesn't have the crazy urge to want to eat them. ;)

Well, people here we are! Today is Alexandria Andros's 18th birthday! Seeing that I was her advocate during the Heroine Tournament, I figured it was sorta fitting that I threw my girl a virtual birthday party! If you've read Half-Blood (and even Pure, for some of you), you would know that once Alex turns eighteen, a lot of kick-assery is going down, so much so that she probably won't even have time to celebrate her birthday. So, that's what we're here for!

I rallied up the #HalfBloodLegion and we all came together to make this party possible! Below, you'll find plenty of birthday wishes to Alex from members of the #HalfBloodLegion.

From Amy, Blog || Twitter:

Happy Birthday Alex!! Hope you have a super kick-ass birthday. Try to stay out of trouble, and keep Seth and Aiden from killing each other. ;)

From Sherry, Blog || Twitter:

Dearest Alex,

‘Sing a song of Birthdays
Full of fun and cheer
And may you keep on having them
For many a happy year.’

May your birthday be filled with sunshine and smiles, laughter, love, and cheer!

From Taneesha, Blog || Twitter:

Happy 18th Birthday from A Diary Of A Book Addict Family! Another year come and gone but with Aiden by your side you can do all things! Don't party to hard with Seth ;) Drinky Drinky Drinky...... No more party dresses in the pool ;)

From Jessirae, Blog || Twitter:

Happy Happy 18th Birthday Alex! I hope your day is filled with the awesomeness that is Aiden and Seth! <3

From Heather, Blog || Twitter:

Happy birthday, Alex! Congrats on making it to 18; be strong and don't let Seth take advantage of your new badassery!

From Cate, Blog || Twitter:

On your 18th birthday, I wish for you anything but normalcy because it's boring and stupid. As you enter into adulthood, kick ass, but be careful whose; you're an adult now and you can go to jail.

From Ishita, Blog || Twitter:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX! You are the most kick buttiest, awesome, funniest 18-year old daimon hunter out there! Enjoy your 18th birthday like there is no tomorrow! Run off with Aiden or something! Hope today is THE BEST day ever!

From Farhana, Blog || Twitter:

Happy Birthday Alex!! Keep being a kick-ass and amazing person!

From Valerie, Blog || Twitter:

Hey Alex! Made it to 18 in one piece? Nice! Kick some butt and don't let those daimons give you hell. AND very important here ----> Among the craziness that's bound to be your BD find some time to kiss someone you love! Love you girl.

From Sophia, Blog || Twitter:

Happy birthday, Alex! Studies prove that the people with the most birthdays live the longest. Now, I know that's kind of difficult (living, I mean), considering that it's you, but I hope you live till your next birthday. ;) P.S. Go kick some daimon arse and become an awesome Apollyon. Much love!

From Amy, Blog || Twitter:

Happy Birthday Alexandria! May you continue being badass and kicking daimon ass for many years to come!

From Amanda, Blog || Twitter:

Happy 18th Birthday Alex!! I hope its full of tons surprises (hint Aiden or Seth LOL) Kick some Daimon Butt as well!

From Shellie, Blog || Twitter:

Happy 18th Birthday Alex! Rock that Apollyon status, stay strong and continue to kick daimon arse (and Seth or Aiden if they piss you off) and most importantly enjoy your day! Much Love!

From Linda, Blog || Twitter:

Happy freaking Birthday, Alex! This is the year that will change everything. I hope you're ready. Don't forget to show the Pures how to kick some ass.

From Erika, Blog || Twitter:

Oh, my dear sweet Alex. You're 18 now, which means you can buy cigarettes and lottery tickets. Just know that if you buy cigarettes to smoke them, I will be breaking down your door wielding a taser and niccorette gum. I will Tase that cigarette right out of your hand before you can even get at me with your Half-Blood ninja mojo. Just so ya know. Happy Birthday!

From Jena, Blog || Twitter:

Happy 18th birthday to the super sexy Alex Andros!! One of my most favorite characters ever!! Have fun! Kick some a$$! Pull mean girls hair out. Have some sexy time with some sexy boy (preferably Aiden)! Break some rules! And most importantly enjoy it! :)

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Alex, my girl, happy happy happy 18th birthday! When I first found out that we're two days apart, I seriously flipped. I even suggested to Jennifer that we should throw a crazy, wacky birthday party, you know like birthday party of the century, but she told me you'd have other...bigger pressing issues so...I settled for a mini virtual party. ;)

I know that with your 18th birthday, a lot of shit will be hitting the fan but in the midst of all of it, I hope you can still take the time to remember that you're alive and still breathing. And despite all the crazy ups and downs and all the wicked curve balls life has thrown your way, you came out of it a much stronger person than before. <333

On this day, I hope you get to take a break from all the daimon killing - who am I kidding? Is that even possible? I mean, it is your 18th birthday and all....well, I hope Aiden and Seth take into consideration that after today, life will most likely be heaven and hell all in one, so I hope they're nice enough to give ya a much needed break. For a day, at least.

And even if they don't...well, who cares, do whatever the heck you want, anyway! ;) I hope you get the whole shabang - the birthday song, the cake, the presents, and the cake fight! But no seriously, go have some fun girl! Stuff yourself with cake like there won't be no tomorrow! Wear a crown and flaunt it to the world! Make sure your posse lets the world know that Miss Andros is here to do some damage!

Happy birthday to the awesome and kick-ass, Alexandria Andros! Live it up and make it the best! Love you, girl! <3

Rendezvous with the #HalfBloodLegion on twitter at 7pm EST for a virtual birthday party for our girl, Alex! #Alex18Birthday

We'll be getting together to hang out with the legion where we'll talk about our crazy obsession with JLA and her frickin' amazing books! We'll also talk about the significance of turning eighteen, what some of us did/will do on our eighteenth birthdays, as well as what we think will go down on the day of Alex's birthday...and what's to come...afterwards. I would love to see all of your lovely faces there! Follow me @BooksOverBoys so you don't miss out! Also, spread the word and blow up @JLArmentrout's twitter account - show her some love! <333

Books Over Boys - Back in Order!

Oh fellow bookworms, I am back! It hasn't been too long now, has it?! Wait, I need to give each and every single one of you one of these:

And you get one too:

And you too, of course:

And all of us:

LMAO, man I could never get enough of these .gifs! Well, Momo is back and Books Over Boys is up and running again. During my time off, slowly but surely, I read and finished three books! Squee! BIG. TIME. Remember in my last post how I said that I would be forever grateful to the book that would pull me outta my reading funk? Well, that book is Moon Spell by Samantha Young. Seriously you guys, it's such an amazing book and I want all of you guys to read it, or at least check it out! :)

I read book one, two, and three in five days. I couldn't get enough of them and I still can't believe it's over. They were so exhilarating and I was on a book high for days, you don't even know! And after I finished Moon Spell, I felt like I was finally able to breathe again. I felt like the sun finally came out from behind the clouds, I felt like flowers were blossoming all over, I felt like the little birdies came out to sing and I felt...at home. <333

During my time off, not only did I finish a series, I had time to myself and to think about how I've been blogging and what works for me and what doesn't. I also had time to reflect back on how I've been...running things, so to speak. I came to realize that my reviews suck butt. Big time. No, seriously, they do. If I could, all my reviews...well, most of them, would say something along the lines of, "Read this book because it's amazing, it's freakin' awesome, and it's one of my most favorites evah!" I feel like when I write my reviews, I write a whole lot of nothing. They're all over the place and they don't make any sense and it's just all bad.

*a teeny, tiny sliver of frustration sets in* *wipes it away*

Anyway, I still don't know where blogging and I stand but for now, I'm here. Nothing much happened with me since my last blog post to now besides:

• I started watching Supernatural
• I finished Moon Spell, River Cast, and Blood Solstice
• I took care of a whole lot of college bs
• I got my sister-in-law to read Angelfire (ginormous squee!)

and

• I'm staying on top of my school work...stuff.

Boring, eh? Well, there's what's been up with me...in a nutshell. Tomorrow, I have something sorta, kinda huge to share with all of you, so don't forget and come back to find out what it is!

And now, I wanna know what's been up with all you fluffly little clouds of awesome! Tell me everything! I wanna know it all! What's all the awesome, juicy drama around the block?! ;) What's new with books? What's something amazing that you've read recently?! Any cool book news to share? Spill it all, pretty please!

Hiatus, yes please!

I've never heard of the word hiatus until The Vampire Diaries - who seem to be so famous for going on breaks. All over the twittah, when TVD would pull a hiatus, I would see that ↑ word and think, "Oh, that's what they're [TVD] on!" I never looked up the word because in the context that everyone was using it, I sorta figured what it meant.

For a long while now, I've sorta been...disconnected with reading, blogging, more reading, and more blogging and I think it means that a hiatus is in tow. If you've seen my tweets on the twittah, you would know that I haven't been able to pick up a book and read it from start to end. I'll pick it up, read it more than 3/4 of the way through and then I'll just put it back on my shelf until who knows when. When I do that, I'm screaming at myself like, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! PICK IT BACK UP, YOU'RE ALMOST DONE!" And I totally agree with myself but just reading that line right there doesn't feel right. I don't wanna force myself to finish a book just for the sake of finishing it. If I'm not feeling a book, I wanna wait and give myself time until I can fully appreciate the book for what it is because if I just finish it to finish it, I feel like I had to read it instead of reading it for fun....and that's just not me. Unless, it's for school. LMAO.

Now, if you haven't noticed, I haven't posted a book review on my blog since the last day of last year. That's a really long time to go without reviews but in my defense, lol, I take about forty minutes up to an hour for every single one of my reviews because...I like to write long reviews; I feel like it helps get how I felt and what I liked about the book thoroughly across. And you can't really post a review if you haven't been reading. I don't know what it is, it's just this really, weird funk that I've been in since forever and I can't get out of it. I'll be forever thankful for the book that will save me.

What's even more weird is that my brain constantly wants to read yet every time I pick up a book, I get bored or...what's even worse, sleepy! Argh, such a fail. I could sit in front of my shelf for hours on end, just staring at my books thinking about starting this book or oooh, how about this book, or how about this book, Momo?! But I don't ever pick up a book because said scenario just rinses and repeats.

And as all of this is going on inside my overactive mind, I roam the twittah to find that plenty of other bloggers are already on like...their fiftieth book of the year and it just blows my mind. I feel inadequate and slow and so behind but I tell myself, "I was never a mad reading machine before, why do I need to change the way I read just because I blog now?!" I'm not saying that being on your fiftieth book is the most horrible thing ever, it isn't, at all. I'm proud of you guys who can do that; I wish I could, lol! But for me, personally, I just get overwhelmed and raunchy if I ever tried to read that many books.

Also, when it comes to blogging nowadays, I just get....turned off. I dread opening up a blog post to write something up, I dread seeing my blogger dashboard, I....just feel like it's too much right now. And if that's how I'm feeling, a break is definitely what I think I need. I'm feeling quite burned out right now and so here I am, writing up a post to tell you all that Books Over Boys will be out of order until....further notice. I mean, I might pop in every now and then for a post but other than that, BOB will be closed until....I have no idea.

By the way, this post was only supposed to be like a paragraph long, but there went my mouth, yapping off before I could stop it. ;)

I hope all of you guys will still stick by BOB and I as we go on our vacation or rehab...thingy, so to speak, lol. We're not abandoning any of you; we will be back just not for a while, probably. I heart all of you and I will miss you guys dearly. Don't miss me and my outrageously weird humor too much! xD

P dot S → The one place that you will always be able to reach me is on the twittah, so if any of you are there, you'll be able to find me at @BooksOverBoys. That's it for me for now! DEUCES, yoooooo! <3

Waiting on Wednesday (13): Vessel and Renegade

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

_________________________________

Title: Vessel

Author: Sarah Beth Durst

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Expected publication: September 11th, 2012

In a desert land where serpents made of unbreakable glass fly through the sky and wolves made of only sand hunt within storms, Liyana is destined to be a vessel, to sacrifice herself so that her clan's goddess can inhabit her body...but her goddess never comes.

First, amazing cover. Second, wolves - win. Third, THE GODDESS NEVER COMES. That's total eff...ery right there! I'm so picking this one up when it releases, asap!

 

Title: Renegade

Author: J. A. Souders

Publisher: Tor Teen

Expected publication: Fall 2012

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb...and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

 I haven't read a lot of books that have to do with mer...people and this one sounds like da bomb so it's definitely getting added to my never-ending tbr pile. Another thing, that cover! It has this glow to it that is so mesmerizing! I just looked at it again and it's definitely the font and coloring on the title. I can't wait to see it in person!

_________________________________

What are you anxiously waiting for this Wednesday?! Leave your book picks and/or links in the comment section below and I will most def. drop by to see what they are. Honestly, I find out about new books through a lot of people's WOW post. I mean, yeah there's twitter and facebook and blogs and the twittah, but WOW is definitely one of the greatest ways to find out about new books. So, leave your links below because you never know, I might just discover one or two or three or ten new books today! ;)