Bout of Books 7.0 Sign up

This is the official blurb:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

This is a fun, low-pressure read-a-thon. This is my third Bout of Books and I love the format and overall fun of this read-a-thon. You can sign-up at this link.
I will pick books and set goals very soon. Possibilities for books are Clockwork Princess, Iron Queen (if I am not finished by then), The Elite, and If I Should Die.  I will update in this post.

Spring into Horror Wrap-up

I read 898 pages and finished three books (Silence, The Art of Wishing, and The Dead and the Buried), so I am pretty happy! I think I reached 10 comments and if not I came really close and I found four new blogs to follow. I also managed to catch up on all my reviews. Thanks again to Michelle at The True Book Addict for hosting!

Netgalley & Edelweiss Month by Book Passion for Life

For more information and to sign up go here. Since I have so many review books that I need to read, I thought I should sign up for both review challenge next month. This is hosted by Donna and Jess at Book Passion for Life. I will pick a list of e-galleys for this very soon and will update on this post.

Clean Sweep ARC Challenge by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Windy Pages

For full rules and to sign up go here. This is hosted by Kimba from Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Kimberly from The Windy Pages. The goal is to read as many physical and digital review books as you can. I have several e-galleys that I need to finish on my Kindle. I want to finish up Towering, first of all. I am also going to add Girl with the Iron Touch, Life After Theft, and School Spirits to my list. I will leave the list at that for now.

The Dead and the Buried by Kim Harrington

I picked this for my spooky read during the Spring into Horror read-a-thon. My cousin loved this book and has recommended it to everyone in her 5th grade class. I was surprised at this, because the main character is a high school senior, but content-wise there is not anything that would be too shocking for a fifth grade reader. She is a really advanced reader, so the reading level may be a little high for fifth grade. After I picked up the book, I thought the author's name was vaguely familiar. One reason for this is I requested an e-ARC for this book, so I have this from Netgalley and Point/Scholastic. Also Kim is also the author of Clarity, which I really enjoyed and Perception, which I have on my shelf and have yet to read. Hopefully I can fit Clarity on my list soon!



Scholastic Point

Jade is both excited and nervous about living in a new town and starting a new school. Her dad and stepmom finally found a place they can afford and really want her half-brother Colby to have a great education. Jade adores Colby and to her he is her brother, not just a half-brother. The other constant love in her life is her mother's gemstone and jewelry collection. Her mother died when she was nine and she loved jewelry design. Her father remarried two years later and Jade does love her stepmom Marie, but she will never be her mom. When Jade starts her new school, she learns her dream house was the sight of a murder, Kayla Stone the most popular girl in school was pushed down the stairs and no one was ever charged. Also on her first day, Jade meets Donovan and she feels an instant connection, but Donovan is Kayla's ex and a possible murder suspect. As Jade meets Kayla's "friends" and guys interested in Kayla, everyone is a suspect. When Kayla starts haunting Jade and threatening Colby, Jade must find the killer, before Kayla destroys them all.

I loved the suspense of this ghost story and how you were constantly guessing who the killer was. Kayla was a mean girl, so it really could have been anyone. Also the romance between Jade and Donovan was sweet and developed at just the right pace.

Favorite Character: Jade. She loves her brother, holds her emotions in check to protect him, and deals with a lot of hostility from her stepmom. I am glad at the end the two realize how to create a relationship, but Jade definitely was more mature than Marie. Jade is a strong character and loyal to those she loves, including outcasts at school and her family.

Favorite Quote: "We want who we want, right? No matter what other people say. No matter what reason or reality we're faced with. No matter what facts our brains process. The heart's a stubborn organ."

I loved the suspense and how Harrington builds up the evidence. Kayla was truly horrifying in life and in death, but she gets her justice and revenge. Spooky ghost story with a romantic twist and the book will keep you guessing and guessing again until the end. I read this almost in a day, so I definitely liked it. 5 cups of cocoa!

The Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar

I received this as an e-ARC from Netgalley and Dial. This is Lindsay Ribar's debut novel.

Dial

There are so few YA books about genies/djinn that I was excited to read this one. I know little more than the Arabian Nights and Disney versions of genies, so I wanted to see how Lindsay presented her version.

Margo McKenna loves acting and music and just knows she is going to get the lead female role in Sweeny Todd, her high school's play for the year. Despite a stellar audition the role goes to a sophomore, Vicki who cannot act or sing, but yet Margo seems to be the only one who notices this. Oliver, posing as a yearbook photographer, follows Vicki wherever she goes. After one completely miserable practice, Vicki flees to the girls bathroom and Margo follows. Vicki refuses to talk to Margo and leaves behind a ring and as Margo picks up the ring to take to Vicki, Oliver appears. Margo learns Oliver is a genie, who granted Vicki's wish to be more popular. Vicki decided she did not want her third wish and left the ring behind. Oliver wants Margo to make three wishes and tells her these will be his last three wishes ever and he needs her to wish quickly. He wants to leave behind a nice legacy with her wishes, which makes Margo hesitate about wishing. As Margo thinks about her wishes, she spends more time with Oliver and falls in love with him and possibly he with her, but a dangerous threat lurks in the wings. Someone is killing genies and Oliver is the next target.

I loved how Lindsay fleshed out Margo's character and showed not only her love of music, but her interesting home life. Margo seems to be living a divorced kid's dream; her parents have reunited and remarried and seem hopelessly in love with each other. Margo, however, misses her relationship with her mom that they had built up in the divorced years and despite loving both her parents, feels like she is no longer appreciated by them. One song she writes is I am not Hayley Mills, which is both funny and sad. Her joy in her acting and music make her really relatable. I thought Lindsay did a great job with her development of how modern genies are made and Xavier's targeting of genies seemed believable. The ending seemed a little rushed though and the consequences of actions were not fully developed. I felt sad about some of the great experiences that Margo may not get although I felt like that was how the book had to end. I won't give anymore away than that.

Favorite Character: Margo. I thought she was well-developed and I loved the complex nature of her family situation. She is strong and very talented with or without Oliver's wish granting. Her teenage voice seemed real and she seemed like a teen girl in her choices and actions.

Favorite Quote: "Nobody ever feels just one way about another person, Margo. We're so much more complicated than that. I can see a million things you want from me, just like the million things I want from you. ... But none of those things matter, not really. What matters is what you do about them."

I enjoyed Margo's character and the romance seemed believable. A sweet magical romance. I had mixed feelings about the ending, but overall I enjoyed the book. 3.5 cups of cocoa.

Rapunzel Untangled by Cindy Bennett

I received Rapunzel Untangled as an E-ARC from Netgalley and Cedar Fort, Inc. This is a modern twist on the Rapunzel story. In this story, the Rapunzel fairy tale does not exist, so even though the main character's name is Rapunzel, there is no comparison to the fairy tale by the characters.


Cedar Fort, Inc.

Rapunzel has spent almost her entire life in the tower of Gothel Manor. Her mother who goes by her surname, Gothel, takes care of Rapunzel and she is the only human, except for her doctor, with which Rapunzel has contact. Rapunzel has a rare immune deficiency disorder SCIDs and any contact with germs could kill her. Her mother mainly visits at dinnertime and afterward brushes Rapunzel's extremely long hair each night. Her mother also reminds her about the prophecy, the one in which Rapunzel will save the world and she guilt trips Rapunzel into never trying to leave her tower, because she could die. Rapunzel is allowed to do her homeschool work on a computer with Internet access and her mother does not realize she is using social networking. Through Facebook, Rapunzel meets the Fabulous Fane and makes a new friend. When her mother leaves for a six day trip, Rapunzel agrees to allow Fane to visit her in the tower. The two start to fall for each other and Rapunzel learns the secrets behind her house and her mother. Rapunzel begins to question the truth of her imprisonment, but can she learn all the secrets, before Gothel tries to fulfill the prophecy?

This was an interesting twist on the fairytale and the reader has to remember that the Rapunzel story does not exist, otherwise you keep thinking how could they not know Gothel is evil, etc. At times Rapunzel seems a little naïve for someone who grew up with the Internet, but overprotected children are often a little more innocent about certain things. It does seem odd that she would not realize the truth about her home, but really most of us would not think our homes were all that great to have stories on Google. I thought the relationship between Fane and Rapunzel seemed realistic and their Facebook and Skype chats were humorous.

Favorite Character: Fane. He is loyal to Rapunzel, doesn't make fun of her for her life, and really patient. He seems a little too mature for a teen boy at times, but he does have some male teen humor in his posts.

Favorite Quote: "He brought her hand to his lips, the gesture somehow more intimate than all the times he'd done so before-more intimate than the kisses they'd shared."

"She wanted to stand as a warrior, to command her destiny rather than having it thrust upon her."

It was a good modern take on the fairy tale and the disease excuse was a plausible way to get someone to stay in a tower. Rapunzel proves to herself that magic lies within and people can only have power over you, if you give it to them. It was a cute story with a happy ending. 3.5 cups of cocoa.