In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly post hosted by Kirsti at The Story Siren as a chance to share the books we've bought or received over the past week.
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Though I didn't get much in my mailbox this week I was a-okay with it because two of these books were amongst my 'Most Highly Anticipated Books of 2011' and the third is one that I have previously read and loved (and one that I know I will never tire of).

 

Bought

"Bloodlines" by Richelle Mead

"Delacroix Academy: The Candidates" by Inara Scott

"Blood Bound" by Rachel Vincent 

What did you get in your mailbox?

On My Wishlist...

 

On My Wishlist is a great event that Book Chick City runs every Saturday. It's where you list all of the books that you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. I thought that this was a fantabulous idea so I thought I would join in!
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"Perfect Chemistry" by Simone Elkeles 

From Goodreads: "A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers.  

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.  In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart."

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating...
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Title: "The Pearl Wars"
Author: Nick James
Release Date: September 8, 2011

From Goodreads: "A devastated Earth’s last hope is found in Pearls: small, mysterious orbs that fall from space, and are capable of supplying enough energy to power entire cities. Battling to control the Pearls are the Skyship dwellers—political dissidents who live in massive ships in the Earth’s stratosphere—and the corrupt Surface government. 

Jesse Fisher, a Skyship brat, and Cassius Stevenson, a young Surface operative, cross paths when they both venture into forbidden territory in pursuit of Pearls. Their chance encounter triggers an unexpected reaction, endowing each boy with remarkable—and dangerous—abilities that their respective governments would stop at nothing to possess. Enemies thrust together with a common goal, Jesse and Cassius make their way to the ruins of Seattle to uncover the truth about their new powers, the past they didn’t know they shared, and a shocking secret about the Pearls."

"Possess" by Gretchen McNeil

From Goodreads: "Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king."

The large majority of time the female lead of a YA book doesn't really do it for me- I find that they are too indecisive, they are ruled by the boys in their lives (yes, boys, as they are typically involved in a love triangle), or they just don't have a personality when compared to their male counterpart(s). There are very few female characters that make me think to myself, "Wow, she is so bad-ass, I wanna be just like her!" (in fact, I think that I can count how many female characters I consider to be bad-ass on one hand, Dru from Lili St. Crow's "Strange Angels" series, Rose from Richelle Mead's "Vampire Academy" series, and Isabel from Cassie Clare's "Mortal Instruments" series). But after having read Gretchen McNeil's "Possess" I finally have another female character to add to the ranks! Bridget is everything that I look for in a female character, snarky, an independent thinker, unwavering in her beliefs, and the likes of.

Now not only does this book have a bad-ass female lead, but it also has a pretty unique storyline as well. Storylines involving angel/ demon mythology run rampant in today's world of YA, but never has there been a book quite like this (or at least that I have come across and I believe myself to be a connoisseur of YA angel-related books ;) ). Furthermore, I haven't really ever come across a YA book before that has spooked me before, but there were a few times while reading this that I did find quite creeped out/ covered in goosebumps (*cough, cough, evil dolls and creepy cat running through house), therefore I thought it was really awesome that Gretchen was able to influence and impact the reader in such a way that they had a physical reaction to what they were reading.

All in all, I highly recommend this book (though maybe not to those who have a phobia of dolls- seriously, this book may just traumatize you ;) ) and I believe this to be one of the most unique debuts I have read to date! I cannot wait to see what Gretchen has in store for us next!

Rating: 10/10

I received this book from the publisher to read and honestly review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.

Thanks to HarperCollins Canada and Shannon!

Memorable lines from the book:

"The green eyes narrowed on Bridget. "What are you staring at?" 
Could she be anymore of a Mean girl stereotype? Unbelievable. Bridget rolled her eyes. "A harpy, apparently." 
"A what?" 
"Seriously, crack a book once in a while" (pg. 67). 

"I have a bad back." 
"You have a lazy ass" (pg. 68). 

"... the last time that she checked there was no Most Likely to Banish Demons category in the St. Michael's yearbook" (pg. 32).

"Coffee At Little Angels" by Nadine Rose Larter

From Goodreads: "Phillip, Sarah, Kaitlyn, Caleb, Maxine, Grant, Melanie and Josh grew up in a small town where they spent their high school years together as an inseparable clique. But high school has ended, and they are all living their own “grown up” lives, each under the impression that their group has basically come to an end. When Phillip dies in a hit and run accident, Kaitlyn summons the others to all come back home, forcing a reunion that no one is particularly interested in partaking in.

Coffee at Little Angels follows how each character deals with the death of a childhood friend while at the same time dealing with their own ignored demons after years of separation. Events unfold as the group tries to rekindle the friendship they once shared to honour the memory of a friend they will never see again." 

It isn't often that I read books outside of YA paranormal and almost every time that I do read books out of my comfort zone I am blown away by them (and typically kick myself for being so close-minded when it comes to other book genres), this book is no exception (it being what I would personally consider a contemporary adult fiction- a book which reads somewhat similar to "The Time Traveler's Wife" or "The Lovely Bones"). Everything in Nadine's book rings true, especially what it is like to live in a small town (Me? I live in a hamlet that constitutes less than 75 people- we don't even have a convenience store, the closet store one is to the south in a small town which has a population of ~1900).

While I read a book I always make note of memorable passages/ quotes and I must say that I have never come across so many before as I did while reading this book. I think that why I encountered so many memorable passages is because Nadine has a way of words unlike anything I have ever seen before- while you are reading her book it is near impossible not to visualize everything going on within it and it is near impossible to not connect to the characters as each is so entirely realistic- primarily because each and every one of them is flawed to some degree. 

All in all, if you are looking for a book that you can make a true connection with and one that will have you thinking about it days, if not weeks, after having read it, I think that this book is just for you!

Rating: 9/10

I received this book from the author to read and honestly review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.

Memorable lines from the book: 

"Loving Sarah is like reading a particularly good book. That pressing and overwhelming need to just devour it as fast as possible is matched only by the need to savor it slowly and completely, lest it all come to an end too soon" (pg. 15).

"She loves me, I know, but not quite in the way that she needs to. Not in the way I do her... I still find it impossible to walk away from the possibility that maybe one day she will learn to love me properly" (pg. 16).

"Maybe you just feel love harder when you're still a kid. Maybe time and age jade you and help to cushion the blow of passion in favor of sanity or self preservation" (pg. 36).

"You don't get to choose your friends when you live in a small town. There are simply people in your general age group that you make do with because you don't have a choice. There are no strange clubs to join. There's no separation between the jocks and the nerds. There are no Goths or skaters. If anything, there's perhaps a small distinction between the popular, the sort-of-popular and the not-so-popular. And even those lines can be relatively blurry, in a "flavor of the week" kind of way" (pg. 37).

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly post hosted by Kirsti at The Story Siren as a chance to share the books we've bought or received over the past week.
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Bought
"Wildefire"  by Karsten Knight

Won 
A signed ARC of "The Watchers" by Inara Scott (Thanks Inara!)

And speaking of "The Watchers", I must admit that I was somewhat confused as to why when August rolled around it wasn't released. It turns out Inara's publisher didn't feel like the titles of her books "Delacroix Academy: The Candidates" and "Delacroix Academy: The Watchers" fully conveyed to the reader what the book was about. Therefore they decided to rename "The Candidates" (it is now called "The Talents") and give it a new cover (the paperback copy which will be released in March 2012 will have the new cover). They also did the same for "The Watchers" (it is now called "The Marked") and it will be released April 3, 2012. So thankfully I won an ARC of it and don't have to wait until April of next year to find out what happens to my darling Jack! ;)

 What did you get in your mailbox?