tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31194424825608094012024-03-12T22:22:55.729-05:00Rebeca RamblesRebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-7461931900709421892016-08-09T14:43:00.002-05:002016-08-09T14:44:16.536-05:00[Book Review] Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; min-height: 16px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Reign-Shadows-Sophie-Jordan/dp/0062377647" target="_blank">Reign of Shadows</a></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Author: Sophie Jordan </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Young Adults</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pages: 304 (Hardcover)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Released: February 9, 2016 </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Publisher: HarperTeen </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Targeted Audience: Teens</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">How I Heard About It: Die hard Sophie Jordan fan. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Seventeen years ago, an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok’s lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna’s survival depends on the world believing she is dead.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>But that doesn’t stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Happy six month anniversary Reign of Shadows!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I should start off by saying that even though I am barely reviewing the book now, I didn’t just read it. It’s been months. In fact, I read it when it first came out and destroyed the book in three days. I mean that in a good way. Once I got my hands on the book, I only put it down when I absolutely had to.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Because Sophie Jordan is a local Houston author, I’m able to go to several of her book signings. While she was promoting her <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/79683-uninvited" target="_blank">Uninvited Series</a>, she talked about another future project. Reign of Shadows was that series. Without giving too much away, she spoke about writing Luna and the challenges in writing someone who wasn’t your normal protagonist.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I had to applaud Sophie Jordan’s talent in writing that very important aspect of the book and character. I went in thinking this was the book she was talking about. By page 10, I wasn’t so convinced it was because she had done such a good job of being subtle about such a big thing. So, even though I was sort of expecting it, by the time the big twist was reveal, and that’s about 40 pages into the book, there was still some shock to it. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">While reading a book, there are a number of things I look for; storyline, character development, relationships, plot twist. There was a perfect combination of all of those in this book. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Storyline/Writing. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Before I read the book, I saw a bunch of reviews comparing it to the story of Rapunzel & the Disney move, Tangled. While I saw some similarities, I felt like it was a story of it it’s own. I’ve been a fan of Sophie Jordan’s for many years and always find myself loving her writing. She did a great job of writing this story. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Character Development:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I hate books that don’t have character development. I feel that the main characters should be changed in some way or another by the obstacles they face in the book. That happened exactly to Luna and Fowler. They aren’t the same people at the end of the book that they were at the beginning of the book.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There was two types of relationships that played an important role in Reign of Shadows. First the relationship that Luna has with the two people who took care of her for all those years. They obviously care about her beyond the wall of duty. Again, without spoiling anything, I really hope we somehow get to see some more of that in book two. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Then there’s the relationship between Luna and Fowler. Both for their own reasons are very untrusting of the other for a good part of the book. That was the aspect of their relationship that had my attention. I was waiting for that moment when they would both acknowledge that they need and want the other person there. If that moment happens or not, you’ll have to read for yourself. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There was a big reveal at the end that I did not see coming at all. In fact my sister was in the next room and asked if everything was okay. To which I answered, “The book!” Luckily, she’s a bookworm herself and completely understood. Looking back, there were many signs leading up to this big reveal. As someone who reads a lot, I should have picked up on them, but I didn’t. So, GOOD JOB, SOPHIE JORDAN! Another great book! </span></div>
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<b>5 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR REIGN OF SHADOWS BY SOPHIE JORDAN</b><br />
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-50894968401894091862016-05-03T14:43:00.001-05:002016-05-03T14:43:55.655-05:00[Book Review] The Choice by Nicholas Sparks<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>The Choice </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Author: Nicholas Sparks </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Genre: Romance, Contemporary, </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pages: 272 (Hardcover)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Released: September 24, 2007 </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Publisher: Grand Central Publishing </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Targeted Audience: Women </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">How I Heard About It: Nicholas Sparks novel turned movie that has Tom Welling in it. Of course, I’m going to read it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Summary (from Goodreads): </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Travis Parker has everything a man could want: a good job, loyal friends, even a waterfront home in small-town North Carolina. In full pursuit of the good life -- boating, swimming, and regular barbecues with his good-natured buddies -- he holds the vague conviction that a serious relationship with a woman would only cramp his style. That is, until Gabby Holland moves in next door. Despite his attempts to be neighborly, the appealing redhead seems to have a chip on her shoulder about him...and the presence of her longtime boyfriend doesn't help. Despite himself, Travis can't stop trying to ingratiate himself with his new neighbor, and his persistent efforts lead them both to the doorstep of a journey that neither could have foreseen. Spanning the eventful years of young love, marriage and family, The Choice ultimately confronts us with the most heartwrenching question of all: how far would you go to keep the hope of love alive? </i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In honor of The Choice DVD release today, I’m doing a book review for the first time in almost two years. Hopefully this is the first of many because I’ve missed blogging a lot. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">One of the main reasons I picked up the book was because I knew Tom Welling was going to be in the movie adaptation. I’ve read a handful of Nicholas Sparks books so I knew enough about the way he tells a story to know I was going to enjoy the book. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The book caught my attention right away. I love when a book starts off at one point and then the rest of the book is a lead up to figure out how the characters got to that point.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I had a little trouble at first believing the romance because a big portion of the book takes place in such a short time, but that’s more of a personal preference. I tend to like the slow burn, but this novel brought up a great point in showing how fast falling in love with someone could be. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As for the characters themselves, the strong characters are what sold the book for me. Nicholas Sparks did a very good job of creating different characters with different personalities that bounced around nicely with each other. From Travis’s relationship with his sister to the relationship he has with </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">From puppies to bantering relationships, I could not put this book down! A nice quick read if you’re looking for a book that will make you feel good (and cry depending on how easy that comes). </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">How It Compares To The Movie: There was so many differences between the book and the movie, but I didn’t find myself minding them. Tom Welling’s character was way more important in the movie than he was in the book. A win in my opinion. There was an added storyline with Travis’s dad that was not in the book and I really enjoyed in the movie. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>4 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR THE CHOICE BY NICHOLAS SPARKS </b></span></div>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-63471576111715394692014-06-05T14:30:00.000-05:002014-06-05T14:30:35.758-05:00[Book Review] The Fault In Our Stars by John Green <br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Summary (from Goodreads): </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Edition: Hardcover</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Pages: 318</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Published: January 10, 2012 by Dutton Books</span></h4>
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<br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">If you are from the age of 14-25 or just a reader aware of popular books, you’ve heard of The Fault In Our Stars at least once in the last two and a half years. With the movie coming out soon, the hype has increased in the last year. For the past couple of years with more and more books becoming movies, I’ve learned that I don’t really care for the really famous books. Maybe it has to do with everyone trying to tell me I’m going to love the book. So, rebel in me of course has to disagree. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">With that being said, I did like The Fault In Our Stars. However, I didn’t fall in love with it like everyone told me I would. It wasn’t the worst book I’ve ever read, far from it, in fact, but it wasn’t a personal favorite.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Plot: The plot is very unique. To start with, the book doesn’t have one character with cancer where the rest of the characters deal with it, but several characters who are living with cancer and their families dealing with it. What I really liked about that was that each of the character dealt with it in their own way. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Another big part of the plot was Hazel’s love for Peter Van Houten. That’s kind of the part where I lost interest. While it does play a part in the love story later on, I felt like there was a lot of it in the beginning that kind of bored me.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Characters: I really liked Hazel personality. She thinks outside of what life will be like if she dies and I tend to do that to. In a way, even though I didn’t really care for Augustus, I liked who she became with her relationship with him. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I didn’t fall in love with Augustus the way I’ve fallen in love with other male fictional characters. Maybe it was because I read (or rather went back and forth between reading and listening to the audiobook on Youtube) the book in only a couple of days. I didn’t grow attached to him. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Relationships: I really loved Hazel and Augustus’s relationship with their friend. They are silly together. They get each other. It works.</span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I also really love the relationship between Hazel and her family and Augustus with his family along with the families relationships with each other.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Romance: If you’re a fan of romance, you’re going to love that aspect of the book. It’s heavily displayed throughout the entire book. Rather, it is the foundation of basically every storyline in the book. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The romance is where I feel a lot of people love this story. It’s the reason why there is so much hype surrounded around the book (and now the movie). Even though the characters are going through a very rough time, the romance between Augustus and Hazel kept this as a feel good read. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">3 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR THE FAULT IN OUR STARS BY JOHN GREEN.</span></h4>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-13519365548442672952014-04-26T17:22:00.000-05:002014-04-26T17:22:53.931-05:00[Book Review] Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead Summary (from Goodreads):<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My vision was growing dimmer, the blackness and ghosts closing in. I swore it was like I could hear Robert whispering in my ear: <i>The world of the dead won't give you up a second time.</i> Just before the light completely vanished, I saw Dimitri's face join Lissa's. I wanted to smile. I decided then that if the two people I loved most were safe, I could leave this world.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The dead could finally have me.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules.</b> She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now the law has finally caught up with Rose - for a crime she didn't even commit. She's in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She'll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But the clock on Rose's life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back...and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Join Rose, Dimitri, Adrian, and Lissa in <i>Last Sacrifice</i>, the epic, unforgettable finale to Richelle Mead's international #1 bestselling <i>Vampire Academy</i> series.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Author: Richelle Mead</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Series: Vampire Academy #6 </span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pages: 594</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Genres: Fantasy/Paranormal, Young Adult, Romance </span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Plot: </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s the final book of the Vampire Academy series, so naturally, there’s going to be a lot of stuff happening. More problems are going to arise that will have to find a way to get resolved by the end of the book. Some of those problems won’t find their solution. That’s where I believe the Bloodline series comes to play. </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Looking back, there was so much character growth since book one. All of the characters, or most of them (you’ll understand once you read it), have found a way to be strong not only as a united group, but also as individuals.</span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I think it’s funny how Lissa and Rose’s friendship is one of my favorite fictional relationships yet they spend a majority of these books being torn apart. Maybe that’s part of the reason I like it so much. Even when they are apart, they have a really strong friendship. </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Romance: </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As far as relationships go, this was the hardest of the books to get by. There are two guys Rose could be with. Only one will end up with her. One of them is going to get their heart broken. That, in my opinion was really hard to watch. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But at the same time, I felt like Rose ended up with who she was supposed to be. I won’t spoil who it is, but the Richelle Mead picked the right guy. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Writing: </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’ve come to really love Richelle Mead’s writing in the last year. Based on the internet following she has, I’m not the only one. That’s a lot of components about her writing that I love, but I think it all goes back to how strong her characters are. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Hopes for Spin-Off:</span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I only know a list of things about the spin off. I know who the main girl is. I know who the love interest (or at least one of them) is. Other than that, nothing. I look forward to reading about it cause I feel like it’s gong to be a story of it’s own. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">5 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR LAST SACRIFICE BY RICHELLE MEAD.</span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Check out my reviews for the other book in this series. </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2013/04/book-review-vampire-academy-by-richelle.html" target="_blank">Vampire Academy</a> (Vampire Academy *1)</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2013/04/book-review-frostbite-by-richelle-mead.html" target="_blank">Frostbite</a> (Vampire Academy #2)</span></h4>
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<a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2013/05/book-review-shadow-kiss-by-richelle-mead.html" target="_blank">Shadow Kiss</a> (Vampire Academy #3)</h4>
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<a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2014/02/book-review-blood-promise-by-richelle.html" target="_blank">Blood Promise</a> (Vampire Academy #4)</h4>
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<a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2014/04/book-review-spirit-bound-by-richelle.html" target="_blank">Spirit Bound</a> (Vampire Academy #5)<div style="font-family: 'American Typewriter'; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-38863613006366884222014-04-08T12:53:00.000-05:002014-04-08T12:58:00.120-05:00[Book Review] Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead <br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong...</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri's birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir's and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can't wait for their real lives beyond the Academy's iron gates to begin. But Rose's heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he's out there, somewhere.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. And this time he won't rest until Rose joins him... forever.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Author: Richelle Mead</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Series: Vampire Academy #5</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Genres: Fantasy/Paranormal, Young Adult, Romance</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Published: May 18, 2010</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve hated the idea of staying still. So rather than have my sister yell at me because I didn’t do the dishes or fold the laundry, I’ve been doing it on my own as I should be. But I also knew I wanted to get through the Vampire Academy series as soon as possible.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I never really thought about listening to audiobooks until I learned that Molly Quinn who plays Alexis Castle on ABC’s Castle, voiced some of The Mortal Instrument books. With that idea in mind, I looked for the audiobook on Youtube and stumbled across a Youtuber who reads chapter by chapter in each video. It was perfect. When I was done with chores, I would find exactly where I was on my hardcover copy and jump straight in.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Plot:</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">So much happened in the fifth book of the Vampire Academy Series. Looking back at how it started and how it ended, it’s almost weird how much changed just in one book. With one thing that was solved, another problem would rise.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Characters:</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The reader really gets to know more about Adrian than the previous three books he was in showed. Sure, the readers know his history and what status he has, but in Spirit Bound, the reader gets to know more about Adrian’s character. We get to see a softer side of him.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There’s also a different side of Lissa that is shown. In the other four books, it’s pretty clear that Lissa isn’t really a fighter. In Spirit Bound, she is forced to show that fighter and stronger side of herself.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I’ve always said I’ve loved the Lissa and Rose friendship. Each book they prove more and more how much they are willing to do for each other. How far they will go just to help the other one out. A lot of that has been Rose doing things for Lissa. In Spirit Bound, Lissa does a lot for Rose. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I’ve always been Team Dimitri. Even though I liked Adrian, I didn’t care for Rose and Adrian as much as I loved Dimitri and Rose. However, in showing more of Adrian’s softer side, Richelle Mead made me start to like the idea of Dimitri and Adrian.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The triangle was stronger than ever. During Frostbite there was a Dimitri/Rose/Mason triangle, but it was clear Dimitri was the front runner. Here it’s not so clear. Rose has a connection between both boys in two different ways.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">5 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR SPIRIT BOUND BY RICHELLE MEAD </span></div>
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Check out my reviews for the other books in the series:</div>
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<a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2013/04/book-review-vampire-academy-by-richelle.html" target="_blank">Vampire Academy</a> (Vampire Academy #1)</div>
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<a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2013/04/book-review-frostbite-by-richelle-mead.html" target="_blank">Frostbite</a> (Vampire Academy #2)</div>
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<a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2013/05/book-review-shadow-kiss-by-richelle-mead.html" target="_blank">Shadow Kiss</a> (Vampire Academy #3)</div>
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<a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2014/02/book-review-blood-promise-by-richelle.html" target="_blank">Blood Promise</a> <span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">(Vampire Academy #4)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Here is the audiobook videos I was talking about:</span><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/6_CCtqH_l9w/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/6_CCtqH_l9w&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/6_CCtqH_l9w&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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And if you're new to the series, check out the first chapter of the first book:<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/NiCcp-BIK9o?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/RebecaValdez" target="_blank">Twitter</a></div>
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Follow me on <a href="http://instagram.com/rebecavaldez92" target="_blank">Instagram</a></div>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-36169971733412271632014-03-07T18:03:00.001-06:002014-03-07T18:03:31.818-06:00[Book Review] Uninvited by Sophie Jordan <br />
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<strong style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer.</strong></div>
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When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.</div>
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Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.</div>
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The first in a two-book series, Uninvited tackles intriguing questions about free will, identity, and human nature. Steeped in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's trademark mix of gripping action and breathless romance, this suspenseful tale is perfect for fans of James Patterson, Michelle Hodkin, and Lisa McMann.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eLeS14aFYIM/Uxpc16lHGgI/AAAAAAAAAWM/Gv6c8Af3zV4/s1600/uninvited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eLeS14aFYIM/Uxpc16lHGgI/AAAAAAAAAWM/Gv6c8Af3zV4/s1600/uninvited.jpg" height="320" width="218" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Author: Sophie Jordan</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Series: Uninvited #1</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Edition: Hardcover</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pages: 384</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Published: January 28, 2014 by HarperTeen</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Reading Level: Teens</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">So, it a given that anything Sophie Jordan writes, I’m going to read. It’s an even bigger given that if it’s a YA book, I’m going to start reading it after I’ve bought it and in the car on the way home.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Plot:</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I hate to admit this, but I’m not a fan of dystopian books (and by fan I mean it’s not my favorite genre because I’ve found myself liking a couple of them). So, when I heard Sophie Jordan was going to write one, I didn’t know how to feel about it because I knew it would be an awesome book if her name was attached to it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Uninvited ended up being one of my favorite “dystopian” books that I’ve read. During her book launch party, Sophie Jordan referred to it as not being dystopian, but more pre-dystopian. That’s the perfect way to describe it. While it is in the future, it’s not too far off.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Setting:</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I always like books that are set in Texas. Call it my weird way of relating to the book or whatever. I was 100% fine with it until half way into the book.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">“A ____ _______. At a mall and stadium in Houston.”</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Without giving away too much of the book, I’ll say that THAT was the sentence that made me close the book just for a little bit. The situation hit close to home. I got chills reading it. That just goes to say how good Sophie Jordan’s writing is.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="letter-spacing: 0px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Characters:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">In the beginning, even before the reader find out about Davy’s “kill gene” the reader learns about her plans for her future. It almost felt like Sophie Jordan could have written a book about Davy without the kill gene and just going off to college and that would have been a good book too. She does it so well that when all her dreams start falling apart because of her newly discovered kill gene, I actually sorry for this person that didn’t really exist.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I starting the book liking Davy’s relationship with Tori. Davy’s best friend seemed to be jealous of her spending so much time with her boyfriend. I liked where that was going. However, that changes very fast.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I loved Davy’s relationship with her brother, Mitchell. There seemed to be an unconditional love between them that sometimes lighten the mood when things were dark with the rest of her family.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I also loved Davy and Gil’s relationship. It was genuine from the very start and it’s obvious that they care a lot about each other.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">For a majority of the book, there isn’t really the lovey dovey romance. If you’re looking for a book where the characters are going to spend a lot of the time making out and telling each other how much they love one another, this isn’t it. However, if you’re looking for a book where there is lots of getting to know about one another as schoolmates/friends and dare I say sexual tension, this is perfect for you.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I’ll give you a *little* spoiler and how I reacted when I read it. When the two main characters finally do kiss, my sister just happened to be telling me something. I was so caught up in what was going on in the book, that I told her if she could please tell me once I finished the chapter. Luckily, as an extreme reader herself, she understood. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Creative Way of Writing:</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It was the writing that really stuck out for me.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Sophie Jordan has a way of writing that makes me want to continue reading. Usually, I pick up a book and it’ll take me about a month to read it cause well, I’m lazy at reading. The first night after I bought the book, I found myself on page 80 or so. I believe (and if I’m wrong and it was another author that said it, oops) Sophie Jordan once said that she likes when readers take their time to read her books. At the rate I was going, I knew I was going to finish fast. So, I had to put the book down for a couple of days. Then pick it back up. Put it down. That was pretty much how I went about it.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I can’t really tell you what *exactly* it is about Sophie Jordan’s writing that is very fast paced about it. I guess you’re just going to have to find out for yourself.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">5 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR UNINVITED BY SOPHIE JORDAN.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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Follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/RebecaValdez" target="_blank">Twitter.</a>.</div>
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Follow me on <a href="http://instagram.com/rebecavaldez92" target="_blank">Instagram.</a></div>
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Follow Sophie Jordan on <a href="https://twitter.com/SoVerySophie" target="_blank">Twitter.</a></div>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-3427724051824481072014-02-27T15:45:00.000-06:002014-02-27T15:45:36.271-06:00[Book Review] Pretty In Pearls by Tera Lynn Childs <br />
Summary (from Goodreads):<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Undersea romance with captivating merboys, deep friendship, and spectacular pearls.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Set in Tera Lynn Childs’ fin-flicking world that began with Forgive My Fins, this 100-page digital novella focuses on Periwinkle Wentletrap, Princess Lily’s best friend, and is perfect for fans of mermaids, light romance, and mythology retellings.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">As Princess Lily’s emissary, Peri works hard to make sure her best friend knows all the goings on in the underwater kingdom of Thalassinia. The upcoming Sea Harvest Dance means plenty of fun for them, too, including shopping for jewels, trims, and dress making supplies. Peri especially loves the pearls she finds at Thalassinia’s marketplace—and she might be falling head over fins for Riatus, the thoughtful pearl trader who looks like a dashing pirate.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">When Lily realizes her friend has a crush, she is determined to help them get together in time for the dance—except her matchmaking efforts backfire, sweeping Peri into dangerous depths and tangled in confusing tides. Should Peri give up on Riatus and find a different date to the Sea Harvest Dance, or will they finally find a way to float along the same current?</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Author: Tera Lynn Childs</span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Series: Fins (Book #3.5)</span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Edition: ebook</span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pages: 100</span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Mermaids</span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Published: January 7, 2014 by Katherine Tegen Books </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Reading Level: Teens </span><br /><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Plot: Considering the novella was only a 100 pages, there was a lot of things that went on. When I heard Tera Lynn Childs was doing an e-book for her Fins series, I was expecting it to be as dark as it was. It was a nice surprise. </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">That’s not to say that this is a dark book, because it definitely isn’t, but considering it was a short story, I thought there wasn’t a lot of room to make conflict. But then again this is Tera Lynn Childs and her writing is always amazing. </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Characters: Peri being Lily’s best friend gave readers just a fraction of insight as to who she is. There was more to her. I love how back and forth she was with her feelings for Riatus. Riatus is a character I wish I could read more of. I loved both Peri and Riatus’ characters when they interacted with each other. </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Relationships: I loved Lily and Peri’s friendship. Lily setting Peri up on a date was my favorite moment that the two of them shared in Pretty In Pearls. I’d love to read more stories that focused on their friendship. </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Romance: What I love about Tera Lynn Childs when it comes to her writing romance is the way she keeps her characters apart due to blank problem. A lot (and I mean A ALOT) of the YA books I’ve read put the couple together in the first 1/3 of the book then they must fight together to fix whatever blank problem they need to handle. </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Keeping the couple apart makes the story refreshing. It’s different from other books and so I like it.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Way of Writing: I’ve always loved Tera Lynn Child’s writing. In Pretty In Pearls, I felt like Childs was able to explore the mermaid world in a way she hadn’t done before. She wrote about the mermaid world in her Fins books, but considering the entire novella was set there this time, she had to focus on it more.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">And since I hate reviews that come close to how long the book/story is, I’ll leave it with this:</span></h3>
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<b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">4 OUT OF 5 STARS FOR PRETTY IN PEARLS BY TERA LYNN CHILDS </b></h3>
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<b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/RebecaValdez" target="_blank">Twitter</a></b></h4>
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Follow me on <a href="http://instagram.com/rebecavaldez92" target="_blank">Instagram </a></h4>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-73183849842095579792014-02-14T17:33:00.001-06:002014-02-27T15:46:19.894-06:00[Book Review] Blood Promise by Richelle MeadSummary (from Goodreads):<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters ... Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Author: Richelle Mead</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Series: Vampire Academy (Book #4)</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Edition: Hardcover</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Pages: 503</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Published: April 6, 2010 by Razorbill</span></h4>
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<br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’ve been reading the Vampire Academy for almost a year now. However, with the Vampire Academy movie now out, I’m making it my goal to read all six of the books as soon as possible. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">With that being said, Blood Promise was the hardest of the four that I’ve read so far to get through. It was a good book, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t like the first three books. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Plot: One of the reasons I found it difficult to read was because Rose, the main character, was separate from the rest of the main characters. Because of the events of <a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2013/05/book-review-shadow-kiss-by-richelle-mead.html" target="_blank">Shadow Kiss </a>(book #3), Rose is left on her own for a majority of the book. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Although Rose has to take her own journey apart from the people she cares about, I really like where he journey takes her. Here’s a little spoiler alert for those who have not read the book, Rose meets Dimitri’s family. Before this book, I didn’t even consider it something that would happen yet. After reading the book, I realized why Richelle Mead wrote that into the book. It was needed. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Characters: The thing I love most about the Vampire Academy series is Rose’s sassy girl attitude. While that was another thing that changed in this book, I was still able to enjoy the characters. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Dimitri’s character stood out for me in this book. Mead wrote his character in a way that it felt like this story was half in his point of view. He doesn’t really censor himself and it allows the reader to see what’s going on in his mind. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Relationships: Rose and Lissa’s relationship took a strain in Blood Promise, but at the same time, it was because of that strain that I believe in book #5, I believe their relationship will be stronger. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I love Rose and Adrian’s back and forth banter. I ship Dimitri and Rose so I don’t really see the romance side of it. </span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Romance: Two romances are put to the test. I actually like it more like that. When it’s all happy and lovey dovey, it can get pretty boring. While, the two romances that are put to the test are put to the test in two very different ways, the core of their problems is a personality change given because of supernatural reason. It sounds complicated (and I like that), but it made the story come together in the end.</span><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Creative Way of Writing: Since I started reading the first page of Vampire Academy, I’ve loved Richelle Mead’s writing. She is not afraid to go all in. She kills characters off that we love. She breaks our favorite couples up. Yet, she does it in a way that the readers (or at least myself) don’t hate her.</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>4 out of 5 stars for Blood Promise by Richelle Mead. </b></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/wQGfjaop9mE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<b>Movie Trailer for Vampire Academy:</b></div>
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<br />Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-34320565004556250152014-01-13T13:07:00.001-06:002014-01-15T13:32:18.880-06:00[TV Review] 'Bitten' -- "Summons" <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I probably wouldn’t have even heard about the show if it weren’t for Laura Vandervoort, one of my favorite Canadian actresses, being cast as the female lead. That would have been a shame.</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Characters: Being that it was the first episode, I feel there is still a lot that has to be learned about the characters. Primarily I would love to find out all of the pack’s backstory. </span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Relationships: I was actually just talking to my sister about this, but we both agreed that one of our favorite things that werewolves seem to always be portrayed as is loyalty towards their pack. That was actually one of my favorite things about the pilot episode. Logan and Elena’s relationship was my favorite of the episode.</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Romance: I’m pretty sure I’m going to “ship” Elena and Clay. I was looking forward to their reunion the entire episode. Actually, I’m not pretty sure... I DO ship Elena and Clay. And yet they haven’t even made eye contact on screen. I feel like there’s a lot of backstory there that will make the show 10x more interesting. At the same time, I hope it’s a love triangle between Clay/Elena/Philip.</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Plot/Twist: I wouldn’t say there was a big “Oh My God! I can’t believe that just happened!” moment during the episode, but more a couple of “Oh wow!” moments. That actually made the episode better than a lot of pilots I’ve watched. I think those moments will come later on in the season and I look forward to seeing them! </span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">4.5 out of 5 stars for Bitten. That .5 will appear when Clay and Elena make eye contact. </span></h4>
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<br /><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’ve never done this before, but I’m going to make some predictions of what I think the rest of the season will have. I’ll laugh at myself in a couple of months when I read this and find out I was totally wrong. </span><ol>
<li style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">One of the pack members will die. (Sadly, I’m going to predict Logan)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Follow me on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/RebecaValdez" target="_blank">@RebecaValdez</a></span></span></div>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-46462699133043469462013-10-25T12:31:00.000-05:002013-10-25T12:31:02.619-05:00[Book Review] Sweet Legacy by Tera Lynn Childs <br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Summary (from Goodreads):</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The stunning conclusion of Tera Lynn Childs's Greek mythology–based Sweet Venom trilogy is perfect for teen fans of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The girls cannot hesitate as they seek the location of the lost door between the realms, even as monsters and the gods of Olympus descend on San Francisco in battle-ready droves.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Greer must use her second sight to step up and prevent anything from stopping her sisters' mission, even though a god is playing with her mind. Grace wants to trust her adopted brother, Thane; but will his secret put the girls in even more danger? And Gretchen has trained her sisters to stop the monsters, but her role as a huntress comes with more responsibility than she ever imagined.What will the girls' immortal legacy be? Three teenage descendants of Medusa must unite to restore balance to the world in this action-packed series with plenty of romance.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was so excited to get this book in my hands. I read the first 40 pages online at Barnes and Noble and was tortured with not being able to read the rest. To make it worse, when I went to Tera Lynn Childs’ book signing, she read a scene from the middle of the book that was pretty intense and then... she stopped. I was able to finish the book in a matter of days, but because of school and other things, I haven’t really felt inspired to write a book review. But with NaNoWriMo around the corner, I needed to find something to throw me back into the writing world. So, here are some of my thoughts about the book...</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Being the last book in the trilogy, I felt like it was the strongest. It had to be. Every thing came to a close (or did it? You’ll have to read to find out). Being a fan of Tera (and constantly going to her book signings when she is in the area), I’ve learned a few things about how this series differs from her other YA series. She started her other series (Oh. My. Gods. & Forgive My Fins) thinking they were just stand alones. Later she was asked by her publisher to add on to those books, but it wasn’t planned. Opposite to those books, Medusa Girls was contracted as a trilogy.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In my opinion, that is what makes it Tera Lynn Child’s best series. She for saw (for the most part) what the series would about and she wrote it. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Characters: </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I love that this is a series about three different girls with different lives and different personalities. It makes the series fun. In a way, it feels like I am reading three </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">different books because each chapter is told from a each girl’s point of view.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The boys each brought something to the story too. While I did have a favorite of the boys, The other boys were also entertaining. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Relationships: </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The relationships are what really made the book for me. There’s the relationship the sisters have with each other. The relationships the sisters have with the boys (romance, friendship, banter). The relationship they have with the monsters. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The relationship the girls have with each other. They haven’t known each other that long. Yet, their closeness and willingness to do anything to protect each other makes it seem like they’ve been in each other’s lives a very long time. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I felt like the romance in this series wasn’t as strong as the ones in her other series, but the relationship and friendships made up for it. With that being said, I did enjoy each of the three romances she put in the series. Each of the romances had it’s own reason for being. Each romance made sense. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Creative way of writing: </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I always find myself impressed when a book is written so that the storyline is only a few weeks. In my own writing, I always want to fast forward time. So, I always admire when a writer can do what I can’t. Tera Lynn Childs does this for not one book, not two, but three. Maybe it wasn’t difficult for her, but she still deserves praise for doing a really great job at yet another series. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">5 out of 5 stars to <b>Sweet Legacy</b> by Tera Lynn Childs </span></div>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-89498389047903191492013-10-09T17:19:00.000-05:002013-11-05T08:53:50.550-06:00Harmonizers Tell All... [Week 1] <br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">I’ve had my blog up for a couple of years now. I usually post book reviews and things more towards that direction, but over the past couple of months, I’ve wanted to change my blog a little. I’ll still be posting book reviews because reading (along with writing) will always be a love of mine, but that doesn’t mean I’m limited to just one love.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">One of those new loves is Fifth Harmony. In case you’re reading this and don’t know who they are, they are a group of five girls who each audition for the second season of the US X-Factor. The judges felt there was strength in numbers so they put them all together. While they didn’t win that season coming in third, they’ve won the hearts of their fans (called Harmonizers) all over the world.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Below are some Harmonizers telling their story, why they fell in love with the girls, why they continue to support them, etc.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Writing this is rather hard for me. Today I’m sharing a piece of myself with the Harmonizers who are reading this that I haven’t really even shared with my closest friends. I’m not proud of keeping this secret, but I just haven’t felt comfortable enough to share it with anyone... until now.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It all started May 2012. My father passed away in a very unexpected way. My mother died in 2005. So, that left me without either of my parents. The weeks following his death, I became very suicidal. I even considered overdosing on pain meds because they were at easy reach.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My mind was completely changed. I no longer had a stable mentality, but instead became paranoid with fear of losing everything I thought I had.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Time passed. While most people would say “Time heals all wounds” it wasn’t working for me. On the outside, I might have looked strong (or maybe not, maybe someone actually could tell that I wasn’t okay), but I sure didn’t feel like it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Where does Fifth Harmony come to play? While I would love to be able to call myself an original Harmonizer, I can’t. I had seen trends on Twitter about a girl group on X-Factor that kept having to change their name for some reason. That was it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">At this point in my life, I had lost all hope in myself. As a writer, I lost faith in my own writing ability because I couldn’t write anything that didn’t have to do with my being parentless. I hated that my writing was taking such a dark direction. So, I stopped writing for a while.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Then I came across Fifth Harmony’s “Stronger” performance. Seeing how strong Ally was performing after her grandfather just passed away made me wake up. It was exactly what I needed to see.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I spent an entire weekend watching Fifth Harmony performances, interviews, even fan videos. Every time I thought I was done, there was a new one I hadn’t seen. I loved it!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Then they announced Harmonize America. While at first they hadn’t announced a show in Houston, I was willing to travel to Dallas to see them, but a few days later, they added Houston to their tour and I couldn’t be happier. It wasn’t until the end of the Harmonize America contest that I learned how to get a lot of points. So, I didn’t win House of Harmonizers, but I did get to meet the girls.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(I'm the one next to Ally in the blue shirt)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I even wrote a whole blog post about meeting them, which you can find</span><span style="color: #ff4013; letter-spacing: 0px;"> <a href="http://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2013/08/harmonizehouston-my-fifth-harmony.htmlhttp://rebecarambles.blogspot.com/2013/08/harmonizehouston-my-fifth-harmony.html" target="_blank">here.</a></span></div>
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I don't think my struggle with depression is over. I still have my days where I don't feel happy, but I'm learning to take it day after day. With the help of fangirling, family, friends (Twitter ones included), and God, I know I'll get throught this. </div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The girls have my support forever. I even plan on dedicating one of my books to them once I get published. I can only hope that one day they’ll pick it up and buy it. Just like I will continue to buy their music for as long as they are around.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">-Rebeca (@RebecaValdez, @Adorkable5H)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">To me, Fifth Harmony is SO much more than extremely talented singers, they are beautiful people with beautiful characters and souls, my role models, my inspiration, the people that I strive to be like everyday.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I have been supporting the girls since LYLAS; I would stay up late voting for them on X Factor and all the Pop Dust polls because I thought their talent deserved to be recognized, and I would look at their twitters and see what was new with them every once in a while, but it wasn't until this summer that I truly fell in love with them because of their hearts and personalities. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I went to a really small school and I don't have that many friends, but I do have one best friend that is always there; we did EVERYTHING together, we were inseparable. At the beginning of the summer she moved to a different state, and it was like a part of me moved with her. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I became extremely depressed, I didn't want to leave my room and I cried all the time. Since I didn't do anything all day, I started to really pay attention to what the girls were doing and started watching every interview and cover and stalking their twitters, and I realized that they made me genuinely happy. They would make me laugh and smile when all I wanted to do was cry. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They encouraged me just by tweeting something as simple as "you are beautiful" and I realized that these girls are a lot more than just pretty faces and amazing voices. When school started, I was having an even harder time than I was having during the summer. I started at a different bigger school and I didn't know anybody. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was having a really difficult time making friends and I sat at lunch by myself for the first two weeks of school. It was terrible. But one day at lunch I was on twitter and somebody posted a quote of Camila from a magazine saying that she sat in the bathroom at lunch on the first day of school. I started crying when I read that. I thought that if someone as amazing as Camila was sitting alone at lunch, then maybe there is hope for me. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was able to meet them on September 22, 2013 and it was the best day of my life. It was the first time I was genuinely excited and happy for in a long time. They made me feel so special, and I will remember it for the rest of my life. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I am so grateful that Fifth Harmony came into my life when they did, they encourage me and inspire me to be my best every single day. I would be lucky to be even 1/4 of the people they are. I can't thank them enough for what they have done for me, and so many other people, and I hope they never change. </span></div>
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Why I will never stop supporting Fifth Harmony is because there all down to earth and inspirations to so many people. They deserve all the fame there getting and going to get. </div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">I have gone through so much in my life and Fifth Harmony and Demi are the only people that actually save me. I just love the fact that if I am having a bad day I can see one of there interviews and feel better. </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">They love there fans so much unlike other artist. All five girls have great voices one day they will win Grammys and I know that. </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">When I met them on July 19, 2013 it change my life I finally felt so happy for once. People don't know how much the girls mean to all of us and I find it really annoying how they get hate and all like people don't even know them that well to get judge.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Fifth Harmony has saved so many peoples lives including me. </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">That's why I will never stop supporting Fifth Harmony.</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Why do I love our girls so much, good question, it might take a century to explain! Seriously, I remember last year, at first I was watching The X Factor for Demi (with the time zones it was 2am here when you watched it live) and then I saw Dinah, Lauren and Ally's audition and completely fell in love with their voices! And Ally who didn't want to stop singing was so epic it made me laugh so hard x) then I saw Normani at bootcamp, but when I saw they were eliminated I was pretty upset! But then the group was formed.... and then we discovered Camila at the judges house with LYLAS.. Once again, I fell in love with them, like totally. They were meant to be together! Each of their performance were amazing and they were improving week after week. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">ALSO I wanted to say that it is hard to be an international Harmonizer because during TXF I used to stay awake until 8am (then go to college) just to vote for them or see them perform live because once again THANK YOU TIME ZONES! But also I'm scared they'll never come to France and that I will never see them perform =/ </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But on a personal point of view, I mean, not artistically speaking, they just seem so sweet and amazing, I know everytime if I'm sad or if I'm having a bad day they cheer me up and make me laugh just with their tweets or their videos (the twitcam with their role play "THIS IS JEAN-POQUE" never fails for me... ;) but yes that may sound weird, but they always make my day whether they know it or not, each and everyone of them. And I hope they know how perfect and amazing they were. Cause they've changed my life in a certain way, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. So thank you Lauren, Dinah, Ally, Normani and Camila for being who you are <3 </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">-Még (@iCamilaCabello)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I'm Shay, and I'm obsessed with Fifth Harmony. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I initially started watching The X Factor, because of the fact that Demi Lovato was a judge. When I began watching none of the contestants really held my interested. I'm not an easily impressed person. Especially when it comes to anything music related. I find certain songs "catchy", but that doesn't mean that I'm impressed by it. Same thing for when I'm listening to someone sing. Just because someone can hold a note, doesn't mean that I'm going to be easily impressed by their voice. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When I saw Lauren pop up on my TV screen, I thought she was really cute. I was listening to ever single word that she said. I was actually interested in this girl, and I was anxious to hear what her voice would sound like. When she started singing, my eyes almost popped out of my eyes. Mostly because I didn't expect for her tone to sound like that. I loved every second of that audition, and kept thinking about it afterwards. That hadn't happened yet with any of the contestants that I had seen so far. I was so impressed with the maturity behind her voice. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Seeing that I loved her audition so much, I started to follow her progress on the show. I was devastated when they said that she didn't make it through. I even told myself that I wasn't going to watch the rest of the season. But then, they called her back. I instantly knew what was going to happen. I was ecstatic that she was getting another chance. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I hadn't really paid to much attention to the other four before that though. I remembered Ally's audition though, because how can you forgot that? It was hilarious. I was curious about the other girls, so I went back and watched their auditions. That made me even more excited to see how it was going to work out. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lauren was initially my favorite, because she was the one that I was rooting for as a solo act. I was obviously biased from the start. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When I heard them sing Impossible though, I didn't know what to do with myself. It was so perfect, and I knew that this group was going to be something special. As the show progressed into the live shows section, I found myself becoming more and more obsessed with ALL 5 of them. I found something in each of them that I could related or look up to. I'm older that 4/5 of them, but I still look up to them all. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It started hitting me just how much I loved these girls, because I would literally vote for hours. I had never done that before for any competition show. I actually cared enough about them to vote for hours, instead of doing the million other things that I should have been doing for school. As time progressed, and they started branching out and working on their music careers; I realized that I use them as a source of happiness. When I'm feeling overwhelmed or stressed, I literally just go find anything that is 5H related. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">They put an instant smile on my face. Of course I love their voices, but it's their personalities that really make me happy. I love that they are so real and honest. They're goofy, and they talk over each other. I love them so much though. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I know for a fact that I wouldn't be as happy as I am right now if I didn't have them to look to when I'm feeling down. If I were to list all of the things that I love about them, I'd be here forever. I'll always love and support them, because I know how much this means to them. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They're living out their dreams, and it makes me so happy that I'm here watching it. To make it better, I've been here watching since the beginning. I know that these girls are destined for great things, and I can't wait to witness it all. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They deserve it. </span></div>
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-Shay (@mines_lauren)</div>
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<span style="background-color: #999999;">Well, first of all, I’m Nathalie, I’m 17 years old, and I am from Chile. I’m gonna tell you guys, my history or reasons of why I’ll never, ever, stop support “Fifth Harmony”.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #999999;">Well I meet them on the X factor, last year, and to be honest the only reason of why I watched the show, was Demi Lovato, I mean, since I was 14 I’ve been a Lovatic, and the possibility of seeing Demi on the show, was really great, after all what happens to her.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #999999;">I never thought I would love someone as much as I love Demi, just think in that it was weird, but…one day, I realize, that I was not watching the show just for Demi. There I find out, I was completely in love with 5 girls, from different parts of the country…I was totally in love with these new girl group, that Simon Cowell put together. As the time start to pass, they just become so important to me, that my heart was divided in 6 parts now, not just 1.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #999999;">But the biggest reason of why I’ll always support them, is because…they… they save my life…without them; I wouldn’t be here sharing this story. Since I was little, I start struggling with some problems with myself, and the school, was just awful. I didn’t know what to do, I wanted to die so many times…that…but, then I meet this girl in Camp Rock, her name was Demi Lovato, and her became my support, she was the only one who keep me calm, even when I was struggling with all these problems… like cry to sleep, cutting myself, feeling unworthy…it was awful, and she was my angel. 2011 had a really bad end , and… all my problems begun again…even when I loved Demi with all my heart, this time wasn’t enough to get thru all I was struggling with, all begun again so much worse than before.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #999999;">And then, 5 more angels came to my life… their names were Camila, Dinah, Normani, Lauren and Ally, they were a girl group in this show, named X factor, which was also the show were Demi was judge. The name of the group at first was LYLAS, and they performed a song named Impossible…they get thru to the live shows, and…I fall in love with them. They owned my heart in one second. LYLAS then become 1432, and after…they become “Fifth Harmony”.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #999999;">Without these 6 angels in my life right now, it would be so difficult, be strong…and stay strong… thanks to them, I’ve been “fine” for more than 5 months already. And I know, that no matter what, they will be my reason to live…if one day, I can’t find a reason to do it, I’m pretty sure, that if I look a picture of my 6 angels…I would find…not only 1, but 6 reasons, to continue alive.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #999999;">They mean so much to me, that it's hard explain it with words, and more in English…but, if my heart had a name, it would be a combination of 6 girl names.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #999999;">Simplemente no puedo explicar lo que significan para mí, pero…las amo con todo mi corazón, y sin importar lo que pase, sé que siempre, tendré estas chicas, que aunque vivan muy lejos, con un simple “los amamos chicos” vuelven mis días más brillantes cada vez. (sorry for this part in spanish, but i couldn’t say it in English).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #999999;">-Nathalie (@NathyStayStrong)</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Almost a year ago I was a normal girl with a normal life, I used to expend my time hanging out with my Friends, talking with them on facebook or just watching random videos on youtube… I decided to watch TXF because of Demi, I saw a lot of auditions but when I saw lauren's audition I felt automatically in love with her lol after that i saw that she was a part of a girl group and i was like OMG I NEED TO HEAR THEM SING TOGETHER… and at simon’s home the magic happened… </span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Since that day i’m supporting them, since that day this five crazy, dumb and beautiful girls are my everything… when i’m sad they’re always there to make me happy, even when they don’t know who i am. When i have a bad day i just sit in front of my computer and i watch their interviews over and over again and my mood changes… </span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">I love them because they’re so down to earth, they always do things that people of their ages do… this is my favorite part, because i want them to enjoy everything that they’re living, but knowing that they're just teenage girls who can make mistakes. Fifth Harmony is the best band ever because they always are themselves, and it’s so beautiful tos ay “hey my idols are these five girls who tweet stupid things and make a lot of vines and if you read their twitters you know already how they are”</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">It’s so hard to explain how much they mean to me, because i think this is the first time i feel this for a band or artist in general… they are my world, my life depends of them… THEY’RE MY PRIDE… i’m like a proud mommy when i talk about them haha…</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">I want them to never change, they’re perfect the way they are… i know there are people who say bad things to Fifth Harmony, but i’m pretty sure they’re so jealous, because the girls are living the teenage dream, they have the life we all want to have, so i hate when they feel bad for the things they’re living, i hate when haters make them feel like that, they won it with much effort and i’m so happy for them because they deserve EVERYTHING! I will always be there supporting them, even if i never meet them… they has changed my life, and this is the best feel ever… i love the fact that i’m see them growing, and i will do it for a long…</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">-Maria (@LiliaanDamaris)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Hi, my name is Larissa, I'm from Brazil and I'm 18 years old. I'm here just to share with you my love story with this group called: Fifth Harmony!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I don't know how but this girls (Ally, Camila, Dinah, Lauren and Normai - in alphabetical order not to have preferences) have like super powers and I'll tell you why:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Last year I finished high school and me and my friends we just had to follow different directions! Of course we kept in touch, but it was not the same thing as seeing each other every single day! And as the time passed my best friend and I, we were just sad!, because of many things, somethings that didn't worked out! Of course we were on college, and following our dreams but it was like there was something missing to make our days happier, you know?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And then I was on the internet, I saw a video: Five usual girls, singing, but at that moment I felt there was something really special about them! ( they were, and still are usual girls for me- and this is the best part!) I sent the video to my best friend and told her:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">- You need to see this!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But she was kind of sad and didn't want to see it at the moment.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Days passed and I just fell in love more and more with this girls, and then I kept telling her to watch the video until the day she finally did! And then of course she loved it too!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I know this this is kind of cliche, but it's impressing how everything about this girls can make me happy! If I wake up in a bad mood, the only thing I need to do is unlock my phone and see a picture of them smiling or check twitter and see something they said while I was sleeping and it just make my day! A video, an interview, a simply joke and that's enough for me to keep laughing about that the rest of the day! And I know that my friend can say the same! Because we talk about that all the time, we laugh together watching videos, and you can call us</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> crazy or whatever, this is our way of being happy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">-Larissa (LariSolda)</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I could never thank you girls enough. Yall have made me wayy better than the person i used to be. I'm now more confident, stronger, and determined in everything i do.</span></div>
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The biggest thing is that yall are helping me stop cutting.. I used to not care, I felt hopeless. I just wanted to dissapear. To escape.<br />
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Now everythings changed. I promised the two girls who follow me (Dinah and Camila) through DMs that i would stop cutting. I failed. I really hate myself for letting you girls down.<br />
After meeting yall, my attitude changed. You girls made me feel loved, beautiful, and just amazing. You girls give off an amazingly positive vibe. Thats all it took. I wish i had told yall in person but i was too shy and nervous. :( <br />
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I've changed. Last night i made it official. I took the next step. I threw away the things i used to... you know. There's lots of new obstacles in my near future that im really stressed and scared about...but im definitely not going to cut.<br />
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Thank you Normani, Lauren, Ally, Dinah, and Camila for making me realize my skin in not the place to go harming when i need relief. I love you girls so much, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for changing my life in the best ways possible.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">It's hard to talk about all the things I love about Fifth Harmony because I know that, no matter how much I write, I'm going to miss something. To me, their voices are absolute perfection, each of them distinctive and strong in it's own form, yet they compliment each other so well. But to me, their voices are just a bonus to their fabulous personalities. Ally is literally the most caring person ever, and she has so much faith and hope in everything, and it makes me want to be exactly the same. She's so loving, and never fails to see the positives rather than the negatives. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Normani is so down to earth, what you see is what you get and I admire that so much. Throughout everything she has stayed true to herself, and that's a quality that not too many people who make it big are able to maintain, yet all the girls have been able to do so. Dinah, oh gosh, Dinah is actually so funny, I don't think she's given enough credit in that area, but she's actually so hilarious, her tweets and vines make me laugh like there is no tomorrow. The way she stays up really late, giving international harmonizers a chance to speak to her and get follows is so adorable, so many harmonizers have gotten follows this way and when you see their reaction, you just feel so happy for them and to know that Dinah is the reason for it just makes my heart melt. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Camila like wow, she's actually embraces who she really is, and I feel like I relate to her because she's just as much a fangirl as all harmonizers are. She's unique, perfectly imperfect in her own way, and she's helped me through so much by just being her amazing, bubbly self. Lauren is a goddess, no joke. She's really pretty (all the girls are) and if I met her before she was famous I would have been really intimidated, but she has the biggest heart, and she's open about everything. She really genuinely cares about everyone, and in a way it keeps me grounded, because I know that if I did something to hurt myself and she knew, it'd make her upset and yeah it sounds kinda silly but that's how my thought process is. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The thing I love about the girls as a whole is that, they all have crazy obsessions with celebrities, whether it be Lana Del Rey, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Demi Lovato etc they all know what it's like to experience the life of a fangirl, so I think that they try just as hard to interact with the fans because they know how much it can hurt to constantly try and get noticed but fail to do so. It just makes me appreciate them that much more, because they all do sincerely try to make all harmonizers happy. And even if they don't notice me, it really doesn't get to me because the reactions that occur from harmonizers when they are noticed makes me so happy, because everyone deserves to have a chance to get a follow, or a reply. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">However, I think the thing I love most about the girls, is that they address the issue of self harm and self esteem. I struggle with cutting, and have for almost 5 years now, and the fact that they try and tell every harmonizer how perfect they are and that they're beautiful makes me really emotional, because when your idols tell you that, it really sticks. "Nobody deserves to feel so worthless they're driven to cut themselves." when Lauren wrote that on tumblr, I absolutely bawled. That little sentence, just that, really got to me because she genuinely cares about anyone, not even just harmonizers, just anyone who feels so down that self harm is their last resort. All of the girls, every single one of them, acts as a reason for me to live every day, and I could never, ever thank them enough for that. They get me through the day, they make me laugh, smile and just make me really, genuinely happy. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">One day, I want to be able to tell them how much they mean to me, whether it be on twitter or in person, because they deserve to know how much they've done for me. It would be a dream come true to have them notice me, but for now, I'm content with it happening for other harmonizers, because everyone deserves a chance to be noticed by every single one of them. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">No matter what, I'll never stop supporting the girls, because it seems like the least I can do for a group of 5 amazing girls who have saved my life. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">-Lauren (@roarjauregui)</span></div>
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<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Thank you to all the Harmonizers who were more than willing to tell their story. Take a second to follow all of them on Twitter, you won’t regret it!</span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">@Adorkable5H</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">@roarjauregui</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">@mines_lauren</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">@johnnyquevedo6</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">@camzfagbello</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">@NathyStayStrong</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">@hotcamilava</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">@LariSolda</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">@iCamilaCabello</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">@LiliaanDamaris</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If you’re interested in telling your story, contact me either at my fangirl account (@Adorkable5H) or my personal account (@RebecaValdez). I’d love to make this a weekly thing! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">And if you still don’t know who Fifth Harmony is, check out their first music video for MISS MOVIN’ ON...</span></div>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-69091658311223322752013-08-14T16:56:00.003-05:002013-09-30T20:17:45.453-05:00#HarmonizeHouston (My Fifth Harmony Experience) <br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I can’t believe I get to say this, but I met Fifth Harmony a week ago on August 7, 2013. Three years from now, I want to be able to remember this day. So, here I go. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I got there around noon. There was already a crowd started to form by the stage for a show that wasn’t set to start until 4. Everyone was sitting so I did too. I’m super short so it’s hard for me to see over people. So, I was going to move to get a side view. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Just as I’m moving, a woman comes and asks if there’s any online winners. I heard her explain that the people getting the private meet and greet with the girls were to meet up at 2:30 by a yellow sign. I wasn’t sure if she meant just the House of Harmonizers or the wristband winners for #HarmonizeAmerica. I was a wristband winner and I had heard so much from previous shows so I wasn’t sure what that really meant. I went up to her asked. She checked a list of names of the people that would meet there. I was on the list.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was going to get to meet and greet the girls before the show in a more private setting! I couldn’t believe it. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Right before they told us all to line up to meet the girls, someone came near the front of the stage where my sister and I were standing. I couldn’t see who it was until the person got closer. It was Troy, Ally’s boyfriend. They were calling the wristband winners to go line up, but I wanted to get a picture of him before everyone noticed him and started rushing to him for pictures. Luckily, I got mine before I had to rush over. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">10 people at a time we went in an elevator to meet the girls. One of the girls in the elevator thought we should go into the room twerking so that we’d be memorable for the girls. Twerking isn’t really my thing, but we all agreed on it so I was willing to go in there dancing or whatever, but then they split our group in two to actually meet the girl and half of the group was the shy part. Five people at a time would go into their hotel room. Everyone (including myself) was peeking into the room before it was time for our group to go in. Let’s just say a lot of fangirling was going on. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was the last one in line in my group. So, the five other girls I was with, went up to Fifth Harmony and had like a group hug thing. I’m also really super short and if I had gotten involved in the group hug, I would have been at all of the other fans behinds. No thank you. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Right off the bat, Lauren and I made eye contact. She looked over at me as they were doing their group hug thing and smiled/laughed. She saw how lost I was not being in the hug, but not wanting my face to end up in someone’s butt. Everyone pulled apart and the other fans started hugging the other girls. She walked over to me and said, “get in here.” She pulled me in for a really tight hug.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When we pulled apart, I went to hug the next girl. Normani and Dinah were both waiting for me to come over to hug them. They both leaned down to hug me at the same time. Since I didn’t want to diss one of them by hugging the other first, I ended up hugging them both at the same time. Normani with my left arm. Dinah with my right.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Next was Ally. She hugged me and asked me what my name was. Then I gave her a letter. She hugged me again and smiled and said “thank you so much”</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Next was Camila. As she went to hug me she stuck her tongue out (like Demi and Lauren do too). She asked me for my name.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Then it was time for the group picture. Lauren said that she liked my Superman shirt. Then Dinah said she liked my red pants. So, I kind of got shy and she went for the picture. Ally comes over right next to me. She gives me another (side) hug and kneels in right next to me. She accidently touched my boob and right away apologized for it. I think I said "It's okay." Then she whispered “Superman” really cutely. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Since I was the last one to go around and give the girls hugs, I didn’t realize the other fans had given management/the girl’s mom/etc, their phone. So, I stood there for the group shots, but freaked at the thought of not having a picture of this moment. I found the other pictures that the other girls posted and found one where Camila was resting her head rested on my head but it looks like I’m disgusted by her when it reality I was looking at the other girl’s phones freaking out about my picture. It’s actually kind of funny. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So, I started to ask if we could do it again. I didn’t think anyone heard me, but then Ally asks one of the other woman in the room (I can’t even remember who it was) if she could take the picture for me. Luckily, they agreed. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They thanked us all for coming. Ally kept turning to me and personally thanking me (for showing up or for the letter, I’m not sure). Everyone grabbed their phones and me thinking it was over started walking out, but then I noticed that the girls I had come in with stayed behind. So, stupid me, I asked Troy if we could take selfies with them. He just said “I don’t know.” I shouldn’t have asked and just went for it cause before I knew it, they (management) were asking us to send in the next group.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So we went back down the elevator and back to where the show would take place. There was a place </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">set up for people with wristband (which ended up getting invaded by people who didn’t have one) that was quickly filling. Luckily, I was able to find a spot up in the front. BUT the yellow tape they put for the girls (and fans) protection was starting to choke me as more and more fans started piling in. It was so hot in the area I was in and my back was starting to hurt and it never seemed like the girls were never going to come back out.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But then they did and the crowd went crazy. They hid behind this red tent thing so a lot of fans couldn’t see them, but the people on my side could. Camila was in front so of course she kept waving at fans. Ally popped out from behind her and waved at me (and I caught it on camera). </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Finally it was time for the girls to get on stage. Everyone was going crazy so much that I had to step out of the yellow rope thing to not get killed. I guess the security guard thought I was trying to jump on the stage (I could touch it just reaching out) and so she kept yelling at me to get back behind the yellow rope where there was no room for me to even scoot in. I was frustrated at this point that when she yelled at me, I yelled back “Where do you expect me to go?!” Camila had been right there when I said that and she laughed and kept singing.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was so happy that they sung all five of their (so far) original songs (Miss Movin’ On, Tellin’ Me, Don’t Wanna Dance Alone, Leave My Heart Out Of It, Me & My Girls). A lot of fans actually jumped on stage during Don’t Wanna Dance Alone and that pissed security off. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Security at the mall almost ruined the event. After the girls finished their set and were about to start their Q&A, a old man (security) came to my section and said we ALL had to move. He never explained himself why he was moving us, but for the most part people were listening and moving. However, he felt the need to yell at the top of his lungs that we weren’t moving fast enough. He was yelling so loud that I couldn’t even hear what the girls were saying. I had to watch a video afterwards to know what they said.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I had a Jonas Brothers concert to go to right after the Fifth Harmony show. Between time to get to my friend’s house and then to the venue they would be playing at, I pretty much had to leave during the Q&A. I really wanted to get my CD signed, but time wasn’t my friend. So, I left and spotted David and Troy off away from where all the action was. I called him out on twitter days later and he responded. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Fast forward some time, my friend and I made it to the Jonas Brothers concert. My phone was dead. </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">So, I was kind of out of the Twitter world for a while. I was pretty bummed when I realized JB was running late and to top it off they had an opening act. I kept telling myself that I could have stayed and gotten to see the girls again and get my CD signed, but once they came out, I let it go to the back of my mind. </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">I even got this great picture of Nick when my friend and I snuck closer to the front of the stage. </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So, as we’re driving back home, I’m charging my phone in the car and I check my Twitter to find out the girls were supposed to open for the boys. I was so devastated, but overall I was happy to get to see both of them... and on the same day!</span></span></h4>
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Thank you for everyone who helped me meet the girls whether it was liking my million Facebook statuses or retweeting my link on Twitter... you rock! </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This is a day I’ll never forget. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Here's a video I made of the pictures I took...</span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBpmN82F5l4&feature">#HarmonizeHouston</a></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/RebecaValdez">Twitter</a>.<br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> </span></span></h4>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-55598916508688526522013-05-31T11:00:00.000-05:002013-05-31T11:00:09.986-05:00[Book Reviews] Short Stories (May 2013)<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span>Yet another month of short stories. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pfmEfgzW40s/UaVFlH5oRTI/AAAAAAAAARo/mcJkaJMnRDA/s1600/Fallen+From+the+Train.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pfmEfgzW40s/UaVFlH5oRTI/AAAAAAAAARo/mcJkaJMnRDA/s320/Fallen+From+the+Train.png" width="220" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Fallen From the Train by Chris Ward</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Kindle Edition</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">35 Pages </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">3.5 Stars</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Summary (from Amazon):</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Carl Weston finds a young man lying unconscious by the train tracks. Who is he? Where did he come from? Carl knows the man can't have got off the train because the trains don't stop anymore ...</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Fallen from the Train is a short story of 6000 words. It is set in the world of Chris Ward's Tube Riders.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Plot: I found myself bored and confused for the first 20%, but then the story started coming together. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Characters: The characters were very strongly lit for a short story and I loved that. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Relationships: I really liked the relationships in the story. There wasn’t hardly any romance, but the way the characters cared about each other, was really cute. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I believe the main purpose of the story in the end was to give hope. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zj7y6kGcyqk/UaVFxdk_F7I/AAAAAAAAASQ/ZMzds41JeVA/s1600/The+Perfect+Crime.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zj7y6kGcyqk/UaVFxdk_F7I/AAAAAAAAASQ/ZMzds41JeVA/s320/The+Perfect+Crime.png" width="302" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>The Perfect Crime by Bill Bernico</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Kindle Edition</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">10 Pages</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">4.5 Stars</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Summary (from Amazon):</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Is there such a thing as the perfect crime? Can you get away with murder...by proxy. The plan seems perfect. All you care about is the end result--that Kevin will end up dead. It doesn't matter that you can get someone else to do it for you. Or can you? Let's find out.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>This is just one of more than 140 short stories I have available here on Amazon.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Plot: For a short story, it really did have a lot of twist and turns that I did not expect. I loved that.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Characters: I loved the main character and thought he was hilarious. I have to guess that it’s a lot to do with how the writer wrote him.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I really enjoyed this short story. </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yHjZcHxGhwA/UaVFsoV3NII/AAAAAAAAASA/WJmaVuy9jlE/s1600/Dangerous+Voices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yHjZcHxGhwA/UaVFsoV3NII/AAAAAAAAASA/WJmaVuy9jlE/s320/Dangerous+Voices.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Dangerous Voices by Rae Carson </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Kindle Edition</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">15 Pages</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">5 Stars</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Summary (from Amazon):</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>From Rae Carson, author of the acclaimed Fire and Thorns trilogy, comes an original short story about music, magic, and the healing power of friendship.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Errik has been a prisoner--and alone--for a long, long time. He lives for the moment each day when the window of his dungeon cell shines a bit of light onto his bearded face. But everything changes when he gets a new neighbor, a young girl with a voice as beautiful as the springrise. </i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>They both know the rules: No singing. No speaking. Voices are dangerous. But they can't help themselves. And soon enough, Errik begins to remember himself, why he's here in this dark place, and why his captors will stop at nothing to ensure his silence.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was hesitate to read it at first convinced it was part of her series, but once I found out it wasn’t, I dove right into it. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I would have loved to have gotten more backstory as to what led up to the main character being held hostage, but it’s a short story. You get used to the incomplete feeling. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">P.S. Read the author’s note at the end! It’s very adorable!</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-70G-Qb8fTEk/UaVFui9b_RI/AAAAAAAAASI/yy5vYT1Qiig/s1600/A+Boy+and+a+Hero.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-70G-Qb8fTEk/UaVFui9b_RI/AAAAAAAAASI/yy5vYT1Qiig/s320/A+Boy+and+a+Hero.JPG" width="226" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>A Boy and a Hero by Nikos Kalpakis </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Kindle Edition</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">10 Pages</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">1 Star</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Summary (from Amazon): </i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>John always carries a blade on him, just like his grandfather taught him. </i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>So when John sees a man about to do harm, he steps forward, towards his destiny.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I had a hard time keeping up with what was going on. Honestly, I think there were way too many characters for such a short story. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Honestly have no idea what the main idea of the story was supposed to be. </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ixHQNPOHg7A/UaVFnIsXg8I/AAAAAAAAARw/fj02tL-Oia4/s1600/A+Promise+Worth+Keeping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ixHQNPOHg7A/UaVFnIsXg8I/AAAAAAAAARw/fj02tL-Oia4/s320/A+Promise+Worth+Keeping.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>A Promise Worth Keeping by Cyndi Faria</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Kindle Edition </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">3 Stars </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Summary (from Goodreads): </i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Clayton has a real mess on his hands. Not only have garden vandals threatened the Remy Estate's Valentine's Day celebration, but Clayton’s girlfriend, Sarah, has proposed to him despite knowing he doesn't believe in lasting love. </i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>By hunkering down in the garden all night, Clayton hopes to at least solve one of his problems and catch the vandals in the act. Instead, will Clayton finally face his fears and become a man worth loving?</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I got this during the Valentine’s Day sales. So it makes sense that is it set during Valentine’s Day. Honestly, I feel like if this was turned into a Hollywood movie, it’s be one of those romantic comedies.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Thanks for taking time to read my reviews! </span></h3>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-66200366985695127472013-05-18T22:36:00.000-05:002013-05-18T22:36:28.321-05:00[Author Interview] Jessica Spotswood<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Last October I was willing to try anything to get out of doing an oral report for one of my classes. I mentioned to my teacher that I have a blog and often did book reviews. She offered me an out if I got an interview with one an author. I asked a couple of authors and Jessica Spotswood and she responded always instantly. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The original plan was to then put it the school newspaper, but that didn’t end up happening. So, I asked Jessica if she would mind if I posted the interview on my blog. And she agreed! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So, here’s the interview! Keep in mind that this was last year so... yeah. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>First things first, what’s your book about?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The short version: sisters + witches + kissing! And the longer version: BORN WICKED takes place in an alternate version of 1890s New England. Cate Cahill and her sisters Maura and Tess are witches, but magic has been forbidden by the priests of the Brotherhood. If anyone finds out their secret, it could mean an asylum, a prison ship – or worse. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Why did you pick witches?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I wanted to write about smart, independent girls in a society that doesn’t value them – that is afraid of their power. Making the Cahill girls witches in a country where magic is forbidden heightened that and put them in very real danger. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Was there ever a point where you wanted to write it in modern day or was writing in another time era part of the fun?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Writing in another era was definitely part of the fun for me with this story. I love reading historical fiction, and although this is an alternate history, I really enjoyed the research and worldbuilding. I think I wanted to highlight the romance of the Victorian era (candles, fancy dresses, carriages) with the Puritanical restrictions against women. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>How do you come up with the plot and characters?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I come up with the characters first and build the plot around them. What is the worst possible thing that could happen to my main character? What does she fear; what does she want? What are her strengths and her weaknesses? I go from there.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>There’s a lot of romance in your novel. Do you feel like romance is a big element in writing today?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I do. I don’t think every YA book needs a romance – but I prefer to read and write books that do. I love kissing scenes! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>How long did it take your book to get published? Did you do anything special to celebrate?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Everything happened very quickly with BORN WICKED. It took me about a year to write and revise, and then it sold to Penguin in a week, and less than a year later, it was on shelves in bookstores! (This is not typical. It took me two years to write and revise my first book, which got me an agent, but then never sold. And with most books it takes 18 months between sale and publication.) To celebrate my book deal, I had a party with some of my best friends and cupcakes and lots of pink champagne. To celebrate my release day, I signed stock at some local bookstores, and then went out to dinner with my best friend and my husband.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>When you pitched the idea to your publisher, did you already know it would be a trilogy or is that an obstacle you had to face later?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We pitched it as a trilogy, and I wrote very brief synopses of books 2 and 3. But we changed the end of BORN WICKED so much during edits that those synopses basically fell by the wayside. <b> </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>What is your writing ritual like?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I don’t have much of a ritual – I write in coffee shops in the afternoon and in my office late at night. I do like to have tea, though. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>What type of music, if any, do you listen to while you’re writing?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I don’t listen to music while I’m writing, but I listen to it in the shower and during plot-brainstorming walks. My playlist for BORN WICKED involves lots of Snow Patrol, Florence + the Machine, and Mumford & Sons.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Most authors admit to being outcasts when they were younger. What was it like for you growing up?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was pretty shy and anxious as a child. I was bullied in middle school and definitely sought refuge in stories – both reading and writing them. In high school, though, I was pretty revoltingly cheerful. I started doing theatre and got involved in marching and jazz bands, and I had a huge wonderful group of friends. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? If so, what triggered it?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Yes and no. I started writing in fourth grade, and throughout high school I wrote books – big, sprawling historical YA novels. I loved writing more than anything, but I grew up in a small town in PA and didn’t know anyone who was a writer; I never thought of it as a real career choice. In college and grad school I studied theatre. It wasn’t until after grad school that I realized I was miserable, and really missed having a creative outlet, and started writing again.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>If you had not become a writer, what do you think your profession would be?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In grad school I was studying dramaturgy, with a focus on working with playwrights on new work. I do love theatre – but not as much as I love writing. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Who are some of the authors who inspire you?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My favorite books of 2011 and 2012 were CHIME by Franny Billingsley and BITTERBLUE by Kristin Cashore. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>What is your biggest goal as far as writing?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To keep writing and support my family doing what I love. I hope to have a long career writing YA (and maybe eventually adult historical romance) that readers enjoy. Three of my big writing goals have already come true – to see my book on shelves in stores, to have a shelf of foreign editions (BW is being translated into eleven different languages so far!), and to go on tour. Of course I’d love to be a New York Times bestseller or have a TV show made – but those are more epic daydreams.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Let’s say your book gets turned into a movie, are there any particular actors you could see playing certain characters?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I can never seem to think of an actress for Maura. A younger Reese Witherspoon would be a fantastic Cate, with her pointy chin! Elle Fanning would be a perfect Tess. And Andrew Garfield is my modern hipster dreamcast Finn, with his crazy hair, although he’d need some freckles and glasses! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>So, now that you’re published, how is your response with fans? Any weird/bad/favorite fan encounters?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I received my first handwritten letter from a reader the other day, which was a lovely treat. Going on the Breathless Reads tour last February was amazing because I got to meet lots of smart, passionate readers in person! Really, every time a reader takes the time to email me and tell me how they felt about the book, it makes my day!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>What’s something your fans would be surprised to learn about you?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As a teen, my favorite book and movie was GONE WITH THE WIND. You know how sometimes your family will latch onto one thing you like and give you gifts based on that? I had a big collection of GWTW memorabilia – various editions of the book, an original 1939 movie program from the premiere, music boxes, china plates, and a life-sized cardboard cutout of the hero, Rhett Butler! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>What is your advice to aspiring writers?</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Find people you trust to read your work. I have writer-friends who read for me now, and my husband – who’s a playwright – is my first reader and best critic. But at first I just asked friends who were former English majors and voracious readers. They told me what they liked and what confused them and what they had questions about, and really listening to their opinions helped me learn to revise. As a writer, you will always get criticism, so you should learn early on how to take it constructively, how to use what helps you and discard the rest. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>I know for me it’s seems like forever before the sequel to Born Wicked comes out. Do you think you’re as excited for it to be out in the world as your fans are to read it? </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Excited and nervous! STAR CURSED was the most difficult book I’ve ever written, my first book under contract and my first sequel. It took fourteen months, and I rewrote it almost from scratch and then did another round of extensive revisions with my editor. I’m really proud of it now, and I hope readers will love it! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Is there anything you fan girl about? </b>Absolutely! I get super-excited about books by my favorite authors. The two 2013 books I’m most excited about right now are Stephanie Perkins’ ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER and Gayle Forman’s JUST ONE DAY. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>What news can you share with us about your future work? </b>The sequel to BORN WICKED, STAR CURSED, comes out June 2013. In it, there’s a book-burning, a kissing scene in a library, and an enormous betrayal – and Cate will go inside the place of her nightmares, Harwood Asylum. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Lightning Round:</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Sprite or Coke? </b>Diet Coke</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Favorite Color? </b>Pink!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Superman or Batman? </b>Batman</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Mornings or Nights? </b>Night owl</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Chips or Candy? </b>Candy (Reese's Peanut Butter Cups)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Coffee or Water</b>? Tea</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Current TV addiction? </b>Revenge, Vampire Diaries, and Hart of Dixie </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Book you are reading right now? </b>Minx by Julia Quinn (Regency romance)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Movie that makes you cry? </b>Titanic </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Comfort food? </b>Sugar cookie dough</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>iPhone or Blackberry? </b>iPhone</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Most played band on iPod? </b>Snow Patrol</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Favorite author? </b>Kristin Cashore</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Number of books you own? </b>6 bookshelves full & constantly culling! </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M6NmK_Gagj8/UZhIf45dwWI/AAAAAAAAARY/m89dMAZlCFI/s1600/Born+Wicked+High+Res+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M6NmK_Gagj8/UZhIf45dwWI/AAAAAAAAARY/m89dMAZlCFI/s320/Born+Wicked+High+Res+Cover.jpg" width="210" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T5ttbn1BF34/UZhIfGBow1I/AAAAAAAAARQ/FUJS4N9XXlY/s1600/Star+Cursed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T5ttbn1BF34/UZhIfGBow1I/AAAAAAAAARQ/FUJS4N9XXlY/s320/Star+Cursed.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Thank you Jessica Spotswood for your time! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Readers, don’t forget to get STAR CURSED on June 18th! </span></div>
Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-27175128431274777842013-05-13T13:08:00.001-05:002013-05-13T13:08:29.852-05:00[Book Review] Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead <br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Summary (Goodreads): </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It's springtime at St. Vladimir's Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn't been feeling quite right. She's having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all... might be seeing ghosts.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As Rose questions her sanity, new complications arise. Lissa has begun experimenting with her magic once more, their enemy Victor Dashkov might be set free, and Rose's forbidden relationship with Dimitri is starting to heat up again. But when a deadly threat no one saw coming changes their entire world, Rose must put her own life on the line - and choose between the two people she loves most.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Paperback. </span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">I didn’t like the way Richelle Mead ended Frostbite. I don’t think anyone did. She killed off a character that may not have been loved by all the readers, but he didn’t deserve to die th</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">e way he did. So, I was curious as to where the story would pick up and where the characters would be emotionally.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Plot: I’ve been curious as to exactly what Rose being Shadow Kissed meant. I knew all along that it was a title of one of the books. So, I figured all would be discovered then. For the most part, that is the case. I do, however, still think there is more to it, but that’s just me speculating.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Characters: The headstrong characters are what I love about this series. I love how each of them has their own view of how their world should be and really none of them keep their mouths shut up about it. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Relationships: As always Lissa and Rose’s friendship and sisterhood is one just another reasons this series is amazing. I love how Rose gets jealous of how close Christian and Lissa are.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Romance: Both Christian and Dimitri were written at their best (so far) in this book. This made the romances more enjoyable.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">This was my favorite book as far as the romance goes. Up until now I’ve known I love Dimitri, but it was this book that made me realize why. He is overprotective and demanding and well, that’s hot.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">While Dimitri is all of those things, Christian has the jealousy thing going for him. It worked for him in this book.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Twists: I loved where Richelle Mead left the book off. Actually, I hated it, but I loved it because it frustrates me. A book that makes me angry, is a good book.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I’ve said this before, but thankfully I have all six of the book at my reach because if I didn’t, I’d be beyond anxious waiting to read the next one.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">4 out of 5 stars for Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-72996657188155429912013-04-30T07:00:00.000-05:002013-05-01T10:12:42.384-05:00[Book Reviews] Short Stories (April 2013) <br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I read a lot of short stories. While they might not be long enough to write a full book review, I’d still like to write review on them. So, I came up with this. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Every month, I’ll write up a combined review of all the short stories I’ve read. Then, I’ll post it on the last day of the the month (or whatever my schedule let’s me do in the future). </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Here’s the first (April) one. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Potionate Love by Patricia Mason </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Kindle Edition</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">25 pages</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">4 stars</span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">The story was very cute. While I predicted very early on what the ending would look like, there were still some little things in between that I liked. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For a short story, I was surprised at how much I found myself liking the characters. I also happened to really like the character names. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The romance was cute. The writing felt like it was targeted for a younger audience maybe middle schoolers. But considering it’s a short story, I was okay with it.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The Oldest Man In The Universe by Tuan Ho </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Kindle Edition</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">12 pages </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">4 stars</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">This is the type of story that if I had kids, I would read to them to get their hopes up. It was very cute in the inspiring type of way.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The world the writer created has potential to be so much more. Which ironic enough, is a big them in the story. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The author put a lot of details in this short story that leaves me wondering if he is going to write more set in this world. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3oRG8ll9fZ4/UX6W4WlspsI/AAAAAAAAAOE/efj6HMDMHJ8/s1600/They.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3oRG8ll9fZ4/UX6W4WlspsI/AAAAAAAAAOE/efj6HMDMHJ8/s320/They.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">THEY by Vincent Hobbes </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Kindle Edition</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">15 pages </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">2 stars</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">It had me at the beginning. I was fully alert ready to read more and more excitement. Sadly, at 15% in, it started to lose me. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">While I understood that with a short story, there isn’t much explanation compared to a 300 or even a 100 page book, but something was just off with the character. They had a lot to them that could have been explored, but instead the author decided to put his focus else where. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">The ending made me feel like I had wasted my time. Inconclusive. That’s all I’ll say.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Marrying Mona by Mimi Riser</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Kindle Edition</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">23 pages </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">4 stars</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">The beginning really hooked me in. All I knew about the story was what the cover told me. So, right away I was finding myself surprised with the storyline and loving it. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Towards the end it was becoming more than obvious that it was part of a bigger series, but I was fine just reading this free version.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Heart of the Selkie by Sam Asher</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Kindle Edition</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">34 pages</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">5 stars</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">I now want to read more Selkie books because of this one. It made me want to dive into a world similar to this one. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Honestly there wasn’t a single page of this short story that didn’t have my attention. Rather than how a bunch of nonsense fluff, it was all good fluff. </span></h4>
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Blogger's Note: Seeing as how small each review is, I promise to have more detailed reviews next time. </div>
Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-16769014047742197092013-04-24T12:52:00.001-05:002013-04-24T12:52:20.812-05:00[Book Review] Waking Up Married by Mira Lyn Kelly<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Her first thought: "Who are you?"</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It's the morning after her cousin's bachelorette party in Vegas and Megan Scott wakes up with the mother of all hangovers. Even worse, she's in a stranger's penthouse having woken up with something else as well - a funny, arrogant, sexy...husband!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Up until now, finding even a boyfriend had seemed impossible - been there, got the broken heart, sworn off men for good. Then a few martinis with Carter...no, Connor Reed and she's gone from first meet to marriage in one night!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Megan wants a lawyer. But Connor's shocking bombshell?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"I don't want a divorce."</span></div>
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Kindle Edition</div>
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181 Pages</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My sister (the Kindle e-book addict) recommended this one to me. She told me it was short and sweet. So, I thought I’d give it a try. I don’t regret reading the book. It was an ok read, but I did have some problems with it. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Plot: I actually really loved the concept of the plot. Girl wants to have a baby, man is willing to give her that. Just reading the summary of what this book was about, I expected it to be totally different from what it really was. Parts of it I enjoyed, but a lot of it felt dragged out.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Characters: I think out of everything in the book, this is what annoyed me the most. The characters did not seem realistic in my opinion. Because of these characters, however I did find the book funny. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Romance: The two way back and forth really is what kept me reading. Both of the main characters had stuff from their past that needed fixing and together they were able to fix them. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Overall I did like the book. It just wasn’t what I was expecting. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>3 out of 5 stars for Waking Up Married by Mira Lyn Kelly</b></span></div>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-31329366275829410492013-04-16T13:00:00.000-05:002013-04-16T13:03:07.051-05:00[Book Review] Frostbite by Richelle Mead<span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Summary (Amazon):</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose…</span><br />
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It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if handto- hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks.... This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.</div>
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But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price…</div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Having just read Vampire Academy, I was thrilled to dive into this second book. There were so many things about the first book that I wanted to know about. Actually, I’m making it a goal to finish all six books before the movie starts shooting (end of May). </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Plot: Unlike the first book, Vampire Academy the events of the book don’t spread out to be months, but just a couple of weeks. It made the book feel different. At some times it did feel like it dragged, but the feeling did not last long.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">To me, the book had a darker feeling to it. It felt like there was more at stake in Frostbite than in Vampire Academy. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Characters: With that different darker feel to it, the characters were put in a different place. Each of the characters (at least the main ones) has grown since the first book. That’s very important for a book to have, in my opinion. Without character growth, the storyline, relationships and even the romance tends to become ruined. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Relationships: I stated in my last review for Vampire Academy that I loved Rose and Lissa’s best friend/protector/sister relationship. Another relationship I like is Rose and Mason’s. To some that could be considered a romance, but the aspect of their relationship that I like is their friendship. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Richelle Mead does a really good of entangling all these different types of relationships whether they be strong friendship, strong enemies, or strong romance.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Romance: I ship (can you ship a book romance, I don’t know) the main couple, which if you’ve read Vampire Academy, you know it’s Rose and Dimitri. However, I enjoyed that they each went their separate ways. It allowed them to explore themselves, but also miss each other. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’m still reading the series. I’ve had to slow down and take a breather because of classes, but I still have that excitement. My curiosity to read these books has not died down and I don’t think it will. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>5 stars for Frostbite by Richelle Mead.</i></span></h4>
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<br />Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-75568706995156971972013-04-01T16:56:00.000-05:002013-04-03T12:56:47.440-05:00[Book Review] Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead <span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Summary (on Goodreads): </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever</span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">A couple of months ago (or maybe a year by now) I met Richelle Mead at a book signing hosted by my favorite book store, Blue Willow Bookshop. The people there are super nice and take really good care of their customers. Even if it’s almost an hour drive from where I live, I go to as many of their book signings as I can. The event wasn’t at the shop due to her popularity, but instead at some other place with a bigger venue. While I was a bit upset that only three books would be able to be signed, I understand why once I saw the packed house. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Fast forward some time, I heard the books were being made into movies. I had in mind I would read the first book right before the movie came out. However, the second Zoey Deutch got cast as the lead, I knew I would end up reading the books way before hand. Now I just mind have to read all six of them before the movie comes out, but the first book was just that good. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Plot: Other than there’s vampires and other sorts of human looking, but not quite humans creatures in the book, I didn’t know much about the series. I was curious as to why the name of the first movie was being changed into “Blood Sisters.” A couple of pages in, I knew why. Then as the pages went on, even more so, I understood why Blood Sisters was a great title for the movie. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">The storyline was very fast moving. I can’t recall a chapter (or even page) that I wasn’t into. Mead kept me (as I’m sure her other readers) interested.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Characters: Rose differs from a lot of other female protagonist in books. While a lot of times the girl is portrayed as this innocent fragile girl at the beginning, Rose is this kick butt, say what she wants type of character. She’s goes head first without thinking. Sometimes that lands her in trouble, but I guess that’s some of the fun of the book. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Relationships: I loved loved loved Rose and Lissa’s relationship. Their relationship wasn’t just friendship, but more like sisterhood. They looked out for each other at any cost. I felt like it was a very strong theme for the first book (and hopefully for the entire series), if not the strongest theme. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Romance: I’ve already gushed about the rest of the book. Now I feel like I’m obsessing about it. (Ok, maybe a little) The romance really worked with the storyline. It wasn’t too much, but it wasn’t lacking. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There was two main relationships (or maybe more depending on who you like) in the book. I won’t giveaway who and who, but it becomes pretty obvious after a while. Both of them I liked. </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Creative way of writing: There’s a reason why this series is so popular. Mead breaks several of the rules that I’ve seen in other YA novels. But in a good way. She didn’t follow that guideline that tends to make characters boring and story lines bland. While at the same time she wasn’t too outside the box where it made things unbelievable.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">If you are like me and already have the books at your reach, but have not picked them up, I beg you to reconsider. This is a series you do not want to miss out on. </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">5 out of 5 stars for Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead</span></h4>
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My dream cast video:<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0uuooyj8Bc </span></span></div>
</span>Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-13380169256852643562013-02-22T11:29:00.000-06:002013-02-22T11:32:08.403-06:00[Book Review] Her One True Soldier by Linore Rose Burkard <span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Summary (from Amazon):</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Is pop-singer Christine Hartman's fairy-tale success story about to end? When a man in camo literally falls across her path while she's on a routine walk on her private, posted retreat property, she knows danger is afoot. Yet she has no idea of what's coming, or why her life might depend on what she knows. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Readers will find suspense, mystery and romance in this short "novelette" that nevertheless manages to end on Ms. Burkard's famously upbeat notes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">As always, I was looking for something short to read as I fall to sleep or in between classes. This was the perfect size for exactly that. It wasn’t so short that it had no character attachment and it wasn’t too big to the point of dragging. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Plot: I absolutely had no idea what the book was about when I started reading, but quickly it got my attention. Summarizing the plot without giving too much away is best left in the summary. In theory, the main plot of the story wouldn’t have called my attention, but it surprisingly worked. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Characters: I found myself really liking Christine and wanting to know more about her character, but as far as I know, there is no continuation. As for Daniel, I felt like there could have been more to his character considering he was a hired killer.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Relationships: When it comes to short novels like this, there’s only so much a writer can explore in. However, I felt like the author did a very well job when it came to the relationships. From Christine’s relationship with Daniel to Christine’s relationship </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">with Marla. It all seem to fit.</span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">3 out of 5 stars for Her One True Soldier by Linore Rose Burkard</span></h3>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-82982576578488114782013-02-14T11:21:00.000-06:002013-02-14T11:22:17.227-06:00[Book Review] Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I first heard about this series at Austin Teen Book Festival. I’d like to say I picked up the series then and there, but that’s not the case. I passed this series up the first chance. It wasn’t until I found up Zoey Deutch (who I had just watched and loved on a full season of Ringer) would be playing the mean girl in the movie adaption of the books. Oddly enough when I ordered the books online was right when the movie promotions were picking up. So, that helped get me excited. My only regret is that I didn’t buy the series when I first had the chance and didn’t get them signed by the authors.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Plot: The main romance plot of the book isn’t one that isn’t seen in a lot of books. Boy meets girl. Boy’s ex-girlfriend is mean to new girl. However, there’s a twist.The girl just happens to be part of a family of casters (don’t you dare call them witches) that on their 16th birthdays are either claimed for the darkness or the light. Let’s not forget about the locket, but if </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Twist: I won’t spoil exactly what the twist are, but I will say that I love twist. I especially love twist that are throughout the entire novel. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Characters: I’m learning more and more that if the characters I’m reading (and even watching on TV/Movies) about aren’t strong characters, I’m most likely not going to like the book. Luckily, the characters in this book are all strong in their own way and then stronger together. It’s a perfect combo.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Relationships: My favorite non romantic relationship has to be with Lena and her Uncle Macon. He’s overprotective of her. She likes breaking the rules. It’s a very common scenario, but with a more supernatural element to it. I also love Amma and Ethan’s relationship and look forward to seeing how it pans out in the movies. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Romance: I’m not usually a fan of the main couple having some kind of mind connection before they even meet. I usually like them to have a friendship first then getting that connection. This has the best of both worlds. There’s a connection through dreams and there’s also a friendship (along with bantering) after they meet. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Creative way of writing: I really liked the writing these two authors did. One of the reasons being that I’m not used to reading a YA book entirely the boy’s point of view. All the books that I’ve read that have the guy’s point of view, usually have the girl’s point of view. I didn’t think this was going to work out, but very well did. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I loved how these two excellent writers managed to make this feel like it was just one person writing. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This book really took me by surprise in all the good ways. I cannot wait to watch the movie and read the books following this one. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>5 out of 5 stars for Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. </b></span></div>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-40815064125024342352013-01-16T17:30:00.001-06:002013-01-16T17:31:10.638-06:00[Book Review] Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks <span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Summary (on Amazon):</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.</span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Although I’ve only read two of Nicholas Sparks’s books, I’ve watched enough of his movies to know that I’m a fan of his storytelling. Still, the chance to read a book before it turns into a movie isn’t one I like to pass up. For that very reason, the next couple of book I’ve set up to read are all upcoming movies (Beautiful Creatures, City of Bones, The Host).</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Plot: Like almost every book I read, it did take me some time to actually get into the storyline. However, it wasn’t as long as it normally is. I think it was like 20 pages for SH. I’d heard a great deal of this book from people on Twitter without actually doing too much investigating about the book. So, I knew he was a widow. I just didn’t know what else was going on. For the most part, the plot was ok. I’m not going to lie, I felt like there could have been more twists and turns, but I have to remind myself that this is a standalone and contemporary novel. As the book was coming to an end, I was waiting for that last piece of non-closure that series give. The last chunk of books that I’ve read have been part of series so I think I just have to snap myself out of that mentality. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Characters: When reading a book, you meet a character and you find out stuff about them. I really love how Nicholas Sparks does the discover of his character’s past. His characters have a past and therefore you, as a reader, see why they act a certain way or why they’ve become a certain person. </span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Relationships: I accidentally (not so accidental) ended up reading a section of the back. So, that big spoiler at the end of the book, I knew about it about 150 pages in. This only made me like that relationship 10 times more because I knew. It made me look forward to that discovery. The relationship Katie has with Josh and Kristen is also something that I loved about the book. She was so caring and understanding of who they were. Her relationship with the kids is what made the romance, if you ask me. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Romance: I’m a fan of romance (big surprise there). So, that’s what I look for in a book. If there’s no romance, chances are the book will not be too good on my scale. Thankfully, the romance in this story was a good one. Katie and Alex’s patience for each other shows what just one of the aspects of love should be. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Creative way of writing: There’s a reason why people coming back to Nicholas Sparks book. There’s a reason that once he writes a book, it immediately gets signed for a movie. Nicholas Sparks has a creative way of using things that happen in every day life (loss, struggle, love) and making them into something special. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Looking forward to watching the movie and crossing me fingers that they don’t change too much. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">4 out of 5 stars to <i>Safe Haven</i> by Nicholas Sparks </span></h4>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-23626788329686540842013-01-07T09:14:00.001-06:002013-01-07T09:17:09.269-06:00[Book Review] Matched by Ally Condie <span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Summary (from Amazon):</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.</span><br />
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<br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I should start off by saying that I almost didn’t read this book. Just a couple of months ago at Austin Teen Book Festival, I sat down in a panel where Ally Condie was speaking. When I hear that her book was dystopia, I immediately didn’t want to read it. Due to my past history with dystopia books, I was sure that the genre wasn’t for me. However, I have to admit the plot of the story, arranged marriage in the prom night format definitely had me second guessing my decision. Due to the long signing line, I didn’t end up getting the books. Fast forward a couple of months, I find out she’s coming to Houston where I live to my favorite book store (Blue Willow Bookshop). I took a further look into the books and researched a little. Barnes and Nobel had the first couple of chapters online. I read them and well, let’s just I ordered the three books just minutes afterward.</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">I almost made the mistake of dismissing an entire genre because just a few books I read previously. Never judge a book by the cover? Never judge a genre just cause some other books sucks. Just reading this first book in this series, I’ve decided to give dystopian books a second chance.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Plot: The plot of this story is unique. While the arranged marriage piece is not something unfamiliar to the reading crowd, it’s the prom like dress up ritual & its publication that is pretty drawing. They go to this, let’s call it a party, and find out who they will be matched with. As always, things go wrong. Mistakes are committed. New relationships are made. Being apart of a series, it ends with unsettled things. </span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Characters: A big part of what makes the characters who they are, is the environment they are in. Many times while reading a book, I’ll feel like there’s something off with the character. Then I have to remind myself that these are characters that have gone through different circumstances than I am used to. The same happened while I was reading Matched. These characters are living in a whole different world than the world we know. So, when Cassia makes one decision that I don’t exactly agree with, I’d get angry. But anger, frustration, happiness, jealousy, etc. all of these are signs to let a reader know that what they’d reading is good. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Relationships: Although there wasn’t a lot of Cassia & Em moments, I liked where their friendship was. Yes, there are secrets between the friendship, but overall I could see how much they really cared for each other. I would love to see some flashbacks between Cassia and Xander as friends before they were matched. I feel like it’s only fair considering readers got to read about Cassia and Ky friendship growth. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Romance: Like I said, I wasn’t always on board with the decisions Cassia was making. Heck, I’m not even sure if I’m Team Xander or Team Ky at this point. Ally Condie has written both romances in their own unique way. One being familiar. The other mysterious. Cassia could end up with either of the guys at the end of the series and I could see myself being happy with it. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Writing: I loved Ally Condie’s way of breaking up the chapters. Being that I spend a lot of my reading time at night, I’m always looking for a good stopping point. The end of a chapter or the end of this section. I couldn’t do that with this series because every place that I stopped at, left me wanting more. </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></h3>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Overall it was a good book. I give </span><b>Matched by Ally Condie 4 out of 5 stars. </b></span></h3>
Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-80255329391056679822012-12-04T15:45:00.002-06:002012-12-04T15:46:45.918-06:00[Book Review] Breathless by Sophie Jordan <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Summary (from Goodreads): </div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Sophie Jordan's breathtaking digital original novella set in the world of Firelight.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">For Az, it's supposed to be a fun summer vacation with her family. Nothing complicated. Just a quick trip to test the waters as she prepares for a year on her own. That all changes when she rescues a drowning girl and meets Tate—the most gorgeous human boy she's ever seen. Tate throws her heart, her plans, and her life into upheaval, but the closer she gets to him, the harder it is to hide the secret of what she is. With no hope for a future together, the last thing that can ever happen . . . is love.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">This stand-alone digital original is perfect for those new to the Firelight series as well as veteran fans.</span><br />
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<br /><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">As a huge fan of the Firelight trilogy, there was no doubt in my mind that no matter who the main character was, if there was going to be a novella, spinoff, etc. I would be reading it. Lucky for me, I happen to really like Az’s character and now because of this novella, I now absolutely love the character. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Plot: Darn you, Sophie Jordan for making it hard on fans to figure out when your novella is supposed to take place according to the Firelight timeline. I had fun trying to guess but gave up. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">With that being said, there was never a scene in the novella that I felt was unnecessary. With it being a short story, there really wasn‘t time for that and I loved it. Right away there’s action going on that leads to the main plot. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Characters: I really felt like this story allowed readers to get to know Az and her family life a lot more. Of course, we’re introduced to the character in Firelight, but it’s a different take now that it’s from her point of view. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Relationships: I feel like there’s a bigger story there with Az’s family and also with Tate and his family. I’d love to see it develop in the future. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Romance: I loved the kidding around between Az and Tate. It reminded me a lot of Jacinda & Will from Firelight, but of course with there own take on it. I really, really, REALLY, hope Sophie Jordan considers writing more to this world. There were characters introduced (such as Anna & Troy) that I’d love to read more about.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">Writing: Having read all three of the books in the Firelight trilogy, I safely say I am in love with Sophie Jordan’s writing. She has a way of (for lack of better words) not beating around the bush. She gets to the point right away and makes sure that not a single scene is placed in her writing in vain. Plus, she’s freaking Sophie Jordan.. enough said.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">So, now reading over my review, I realized this just comes off as a huge plead with Sophie to ask her to write another novella. Just when I thought I was ready to let go of the series, she has to go and write a novella. I think she likes messing with her readers’ emotions. So, Mrs. Jordan, what do you say? Make your fans happy and write another story in the draki universe? Pretty please...</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">5 out of 5 stars for Breathless by Sophie Jordan</span></h4>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119442482560809401.post-7161461523421766542012-10-31T12:03:00.003-05:002012-10-31T12:03:55.303-05:00[Book Review] Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick<br />
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<i style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">A SACRED OATH</span></i></h4>
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<i style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">A FALLEN ANGEL</span></i></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">A FORBIDDEN LOVE</span></i></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.</span></i></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The last couple of angels books that I’ve read didn’t quite seem as g</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;">ood I’d hoped they would be. I had high hopes for them that they did not meet. With that in mind, I didn’t have much hope in yet another fallen angel book. But I was completely wrong to think in that manner. Not only did Hush, Hush surpass all of the other angel books, but it also made it to my top 10 favorite book list. I’ve read close to 40 (36 to be exact) books/short stories this year and this one surely makes it to the top 3.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Why? I feel like every single one of the factors below are what all together made me love the book so much. Characters made the relationships better. Relationships made the romance better. The romance made the plot better. Lastly, the plot made the writing better. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Characters: I felt like the characters were very alive. A lot of times, I’ll read a book and feel no attachment to the characters what so ever. One way that let me know I was really liking (or hating) the characters was when I found myself arguing with the decisions they would make. That’s when I know the author has written realistic characters. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Relationships: I really enjoyed Vee and Nora’s friendship. They bickered from time to time, but were there for each other when it counted just like real friends. They didn’t approve of the other’s boyfriend (or boy-friend) and weren’t afraid to vocalize it to each other. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">One relationship that I would love to see more in the continuing books of the series is Nora and her mother. I felt like there was so much potential for a great mother-daughter relationship, but didn’t understand why it wasn’t there. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Romance: I thoroughly loved the romance between Nora and Patch. Their relationship begins with bantering, secrecy, and all the good stuff a YA supernatural reader loves to read. Everyone from Nora’s best friend to the school counselor are counting against the pair coming together, but even then that doesn’t stop the readers from wanting them to be together. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Plot: Right from the start, it caught my attention. I didn’t have to wait 50 (or on some occasions more) pages for the good stuff to happen. And the good stuff kept on coming. There was no boring gap (and for a big book at 300++ pages, that’s rare) in the middle. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Writing: I have to admit, I was too caught up in the plot and what was going on to really pay attention to any special things to point out in the writing. I loved the book. I think that should say enough.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">5 out of 5 stars for Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Last Friday, I had to the wonderful opportunity of meeting Becca Fitzpatrick. One of the things that I took from this event was how funny she was. While most authors shy away from admitting that some of their characters are based on people they know in real life, she was completely open about it. She even admitted that some characters/scenes had to do with old crushes. Drew Doyon, the model for the covers aka Patch was also there too. When my iPod decided to start acting up when it came time to take my picture with him, he offered to take the picture with his phone and post it on Twitter. That was super sweet of him! </span></span></h4>
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Rebeca Valdezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03885787839477778594noreply@blogger.com0