Waiting on Wednesday [2]

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating! The book that I am waiting to purchase has already been released just a week ago! And I'm pretty sure many of you out there already have your hands on it =)

Title: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Publication date: January 10th 2012

From Goodreads:
Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

Title: Salem's Lot 
Publisher: Pocket 
Published date: November 1st 1999
Edition: Paperback, English


Salem's Lot is a small New England town with white clapboard houses, tree-lined streets, ad solid church steeples. That summer in Salem's Lot was a summer of home-coming and return; spring burned out and the land lying dry, crackling underfoot. Late that summer, Ben Mears returned to Salem's Lot hoping to cast out his ow devils...and found instead a new unspeakable horror.

A stranger has also come to the Lot, a stranger with a secret as old as evil, a secret that would wreak irreparable harm on those he touched and in turn on those they loved.

All would be changed forever--Susan, whose love for Ben could not protect her; Father Callahan, the bad priest who put his eroded faith to one last test; and Mark, a young boy who sees his fantasy world become reality and ironically proves the best equipped to handle the relentless nightmare of Salem's Lot.


My Thoughts


Salem's Lot was my first Stephen King novel, and I absolutely loved it. Who does't like a good Vampire book? I mean real vampires. The story begins with a prologue that will capture the reader's attention immediately. We know immediately something terrible has happened, and the prologue leaves the reader wanting to know more as to what happened. The way King introduces Salem's Lot, the town, we just know something is about to happen. The town is your typical town where nothing out of the ordinary occurs. Everyone knows each other's names, and nothing goes amiss. Nothing until Ben Mears arrives, and when the Marsten Mansion is bought.

I enjoyed the plot of the book very much. Although as a reader I knew some of the things that were going to happen, many things took me off guard, and kept me guessing. The plot was very engaging, and I zoomed through the book without ever dreading to read 500+ pages. King's writing is well understood, and does not drag into the boring category. King provides details about other character's in the town and what is/has happened to them. I found this very interesting, because it lets the reader know what is going on in Salem's Lot and not just the main characters. Many chapters were given to different characters, and the Lot itself, which I found to be a nice way to get to know some of the characters more in depth.

The characters were well developed (the main ones) and the reader had the opportunity to glimpse into the lives of the other characters. Mark has to be my favourite character because he is shown to be more courageous  then the grown up characters. Ben was also an interesting character because he had his own personal fights to concur. I also enjoyed the way King keeps the main antagonist in secret, leaving the reader guessing who it might be. Thumbs up for awesome suspense.


All in all, Salem's Lot is one of the best vampire books I've ever read. Number one spot is always Stoker's Dracula. I would recommend this book to anyone who reads and enjoys a good horror stories, with vampires that are real. Vampires that don't shimmer/glitter :P

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne's family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?

My Thoughts:

As a huge Jane Austen fan I dived straight into this book knowing I would absolutely love it. Although this is my second Jane Austen novel, I am absolutely enchanted with the way she writes and constructs her novels. My first Jane Austen book was, as you all know, Pride & Prejudice. To this day P&P stands as my all-time favourite novel ever. If you have read an Austen book, then you will know that there is not much action in it. The same goes for Persuasion. There is no action, instead there is a lot of drama and social activities. These alone have the potential to grab a reader's attention, because it definitely does to me. I immensely enjoy the social class of the Victorian era and learning what everyone's role is.  Jane Austen's works are like fact books, they tell us, readers about how people interacted with one another back then.


The only thing that probably disappointed me was the fact that I wanted to know more of what Captain Wentworth was thinking. Austen leaves us guessing as to his feeling towards the whole situation with him and Ann having to be in the same presence. We get to see a lot of what Anne Elliot is thinking and her emotions towards Wentworth. Although, we do get to read about Wentworth's feelings near the end of the novel, I still wanted more. 


As for characters, I loved Anne Elliot. Anne is the oldest heroine in Austen's books, and I did not mind that at all. Anne was mature and well collected. Her manners are perfect and she is anything but selfish. All these traits that Anne possess are completely different from her sisters. Mary, and Elizabeth are self absorbed and are vanity driven. I had a love/hate feeling towards Captain Wentworth. His coldness towards Anne unnerved me, even if he had a reason for it. 

I enjoyed reading Persuasion, and would recommend this to friends, families and readers everywhere! But if you have not read any Jane Austen's books before, I would suggest starting with Pride and Prejudice. Happy reading everyone! 

Waiting on Wednesday [1]

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine and it features new releases that we are anticipating! 

My picks do not come out this week, but I decided I should post it anyway! Here are some of the books that I am eagerly looking forward to:

Expected release date: February 2012

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.

Expected release date: January 2012

A stunning story of love, sexual obsession, treachery, and tragedy, about an artist and her most famous muse in Paris between the World Wars. 

Paris, 1927. In the heady years before the crash, financiers drape their mistresses in Chanel, while expatriates flock to the avant-garde bookshop Shakespeare and Company. One day in July, a young American named Rafaela Fano gets into the car of a coolly dazzling stranger, the Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka. 

Struggling to halt a downward slide toward prostitution, Rafaela agrees to model for the artist, a dispossessed Saint Petersburg aristocrat with a murky past. The two become lovers, and Rafaela inspires Tamara's most iconic Jazz Age images, among them her most accomplished—and coveted—works of art. A season as the painter's muse teaches Rafaela some hard lessons: Tamara is a cocktail of raw hunger and glittering artifice. And all the while, their romantic idyll is threatened by history's darkening tide. 

Inspired by real events in de Lempicka's history, The Last Nude is a tour de force of historical imagination. Avery gives the reader a tantalizing window into a lost Paris, an age already vanishing as the inexorable forces of history close in on two tangled lives. Spellbinding and provocative, The Last Nude is a novel about genius and craft, love and desire, regret, and, most of all, hope that can transcend time and circumstance.

Clockwork Prince By: Cassandra Clare

Title: Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices #2)
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published date: December 6th 2011
Edition: Hardcover, English

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that saftey proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends. (More on Goodreads)






The Clockwork Prince starts where it is left off in Clockwork Angel. Tessa is still struggling with her new found life, and still does not know what or who she is. But Tessa has found some sort of comfort in the London Institute along with the new friends she has made.

Getting to the plot of this book was a tid bit slow, but I enjoyed it regardless. Clare has a way of grabbing your attention to the minor things, while building up something heavy that will blow your socks away near the end. Oh, and there was a lot more Jem in this book then there was in CA. So for those of you who are Jem fans, woo! There are many twists in this book that I totally did not see coming from sweet romance to what the sh--. I absolutely loved the way Clare describes the London area. Reading CP made me want to live in England and explore its ancient streets.

There was a great deal of character development. From Sophie to even Will! Let me tell you, I loved the romance Sophie has with an individual in this book. I thought it was super adorable! The only person in this book that I felt like who had an underdevelopment is Tessa Gray. Tessa was a completely indecisive individual who I felt like punching in the face sometimes. I mean I get it you have two gorgeous guys after you, but really, must you lead them both on? I hope she improves in Clockwork Princess. Once I finished reading this, I was totally heartbroken. I never liked Will, but after this he just broke my heart. I can't seem to favour one out of the two boys! It's impossible! I hope to see some sort of resolution happen in the next book, or I will cry.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Clockwork Prince and will definitely be reading Clockwork Princess, but god do I have to wait so long for it? I give this book a 4.5/5 !

Incarceron By: Catherine Fisher

Title: Incarceron (Incarceron #1)
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Published date: March 3rd, 2007
Edition: Paperback, English

Incarceron -- a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology -- a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber -- chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison -- a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device -- a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn's escape is born ... (From Goodreads)

I really enjoyed the idea of a futuristic prison being alive. Not many inanimate things are described as being alive, unless you're watching a children cartoon show. The way that Fisher makes the prison alive is almost creepy. Just imagine being trapped in something that is constantly watching every move you make and laughing at the things you do to try and escape it. 


The plot of this book had a lot of promise. I enjoyed where it was going and could sense the uniqueness of it. It was good enough for me to want to finish reading this book to see what happens in the end. The only problem I had with this book was the writing style. Although it's a Young Adult book it rather felt like a Children's book. The writing was super simple, and kind of felt flat. I was hoping for a bit of complexity in the writing, it could have improved the book a lot. 


Let us discuss about the characters in this book. To put it straight, I did not bond with any of the characters. I felt as if they were not developed well. I wanted to know the background of Keiro and Attia since they are such a mystery to the person. I wanted to know why they are what they like now. Finn felt like a background character to me. I felt Keiro out did Finn, almost as if he were the main character. Finn didn't do much, except for talk to Claudia through the key. It was Keiro who did most of the fighting and plotting along with Gildas. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Attia, which unfortunately wasn't discussed in this book. Claudia was rash and dense. Sometimes I felt like she just wanted herself to be happy, and rather selfish. Like for instance she made it look like she only wanted to help free Finn and not his friends. She didn't care about the others, just Finn *rolls eyes*. 


Overall, it was an enjoyable read except for the writing style and lack of character development. I will be reading the second installment, Sapphique but it is not at the top of my TBR pile.  I give this book a 3.8/5 ! 

New Blog!

So I created a blog a few months ago (I think in January?) and completely stopped being active on it since summer. I know I'm bad! Since I have been so inactive on it I totally forgot my log in information, yay me! -__- So I have decided to completely start from scratch and make a new one! I'm determined to keep going, and will be one of my new years resolution to be active for an year =)