Review: Between the Sea and Sky by Jaclyn Dolamore

Title: Between the Sea and Sky
Author: Jaclyn Dolamore
Series: No
Book #: 1
Pages: 240
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: .5
Goodreads Rating: 3.80
Published: Oct 25th, 2011
by Bloomsbury USA

For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her older sister, Dosinia, as a siren--the highest calling a mermaid can have. When Dosinia runs away to the mainland, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her. Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily to the capital city.

There she comes upon a friend she hasn't seen since childhood--a dashing young man named Alandare, who belongs to a winged race of people. As Esmerine and Alandare band together to search for Dosinia, they rekindle a friendship . . . and ignite the emotions for a love so great, it cannot be bound by sea, land, or air.

Taschima's POV:

This book was like a fairy tale! It had such a wonderful world, where mermaids and bird people and normal people could live together without having to hide and they all have a purpose in the world... But at the same time I was left wondering about so much more. Like what is the humans position on the subject of everybody living happily? Is there any left over rage? Is there ANYTHING else going under the surface?

The thing about Between the Sea and Sky is that it stays afloat and never goes under to inspect the hard questions. It's a nice fluff read about a mermaid who has lost her sister to the mainland and who has a crush on a bird, but it's not more than that. Even the characters are 2d, they don't have any depth. It's fine and a quick read, but it could have been so much more. The mermaid's lack a strong background, but for that matter every kind of species in this story does as well.

Esmerine is a nice proper kind of girl who lacks spunk. Alandare is a kind of douch bag at the beginning and by the end he might change 10% of his personality when he develops a heart, but it ain't much of an improvement. The whole novel is about the journey to get the lost sister, and the re kindling of two old friends who have change drastically in their years apart. How they even manage to re kindle anything is beyond me (because if I were Esmerine I would have told bird boy to snap out of it long ago).

It has no twists, no turns, nothing to really surprise you. It's just quick, and sort of faerie tale like. It has a lot of potential that wasn't exploited, and that is a damn shame.

Official Trailer for The Hunger Games...

I am so freaking tired of school, and college, and work, and all that RL crap we have to put up with every day. And so I decided to heck with it and I'm just going to be around the internet for a bit cooling my brain down.

I found out that the OFFICIAL trailer (not some some crappy clips, but a FULL ON awesometastic trailer which should last about 2 minutes or more I hope) will be premiering THIS MONDAY, november 14, on GOOD MORNING AMERICA (8 a.m.)

Full story right here.

And I get to miss it because I have class monday at 8 am. Curse you Italian!!! I will record it on my DVR and watch it though... You would think since a great percentage of the fan base IS of a younger age that they would make it possible for us to watch it sometime in the afternoon AFTER school/college ends.

Are you as excited as I am?!

PS; You are doing great guys, now just keep voting on the poll to your left to see who wins November's best cover of the month.

Cover Winner of October; New Covers for November!!!

The votes are in, and our winner is...

So everything is right with the world. The Iron Knight, by Julie Kagawa, won as it should, so let's move on quickly to the next month since I completely forgot to post this at the beginning of November (due to college having only a month left and me drowning in school work).

Breakdown Time:

The Iron Knight (The Iron Fey #4) by Julie Kagawa - 52 (41%)

Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick - 28 (22%)

Tris & Izzie by Mette Ivie Harrison -19 (15%)

The Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon - 16 (12%)

Dearly Departed by Lia Habel - 9 (7%)

Total Votes: 124

Also, can't believe Dearly Departed got so few votes, the cover is so pretty!

New Covers for November:

As always the voting in on the left sidebar, remember to vote! I want to read all of these =]

PS; All of these covers, and many many more, you can find at Bloody Bookaholic's Facebook Page. Check it out and "like" it please!

Review: Crossed by Allie Condie (Matched #2)

Title: Crossed
Author: Allie Condie
Series: Matched
Book #: 2
Pages: 384
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.75
Published: Nov 1st, 2011
by Dutton Juvenile

The hotly awaited second book in the dystopian Matched trilogy. 

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake. 

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever

Taschima's POV:

Crossed possesses all the beautiful writing, and amazing characters of the first book. The words pull you in; they are like a spell that makes you want to keep on reading forever. Yet, the pace wasn't right. It took a while to get from point A to point B, and the constant walking that happened through the novel makes for an unsatisfying second book that seems to have catched the terrible disease of "second bookness". It's definitely a bridge between books, necessary though because it answers some questions left over from the first book.

Cassie is a strong female character. Her development since book 1 is inspiring. After her eyes were opened on the first book she is determined to do something about this terrible society that prevents it's people from living their lives as they desire. On the last book she was separated from Ky, and so she goes after him by any means necessary. Finding him is her only goal (though by the end of the book it's not her only goal). Ky on the other hand has always known about the dark side of the society, and he was just trying to live his life without issue until Cassia stepped in his life. He fell in love, something that was prohibited by the Society. After this things got extremely complicated, they tried to make a plan to escape, but Ky was captured before they got a chance to execute the plan. Now on Crossed Ky is trying to survive day to day in a war camp on the outskirts of the Society. Waiting daily for a loop hole so he can escape, and go back to her.

Again, beautiful writing. Allie Condie has a gift all right. Characters that are so fantastic it's hard to look away. But, it didn't keep me at the edge of my seat as Matched did. You know what I think, the whole journey to and fro could have easily been a novella. Like what Julie Kagawa did with Winter's Passage. The only thing is that the whole reunion between Ky and Cassia seemed like it needed to be in the big book, but I still think it would have done good being a novella.

Both Cassia's and Ky's POV bring good material to the table. I specially like Cassia's POV. She has grown up so much! Ky, lovely Ky, pissed me off at points in the book. Keeping things from Cassia he shouldn't be keeping. Oh and Xander wasn't completely left behind. There is some information revealed in this novel that might just had changed my mind about Xander's character. Depending on what will happened in Matched #3 will determined if I'm in team Ky or Xander (right now is mostly Team Ky... 80% Ky, 20% Xander).

Not all books can be equally as awesome as it's previous one, true. Still this one gave us a solid base for the next book to stand on. I think the third book (Matched #3) will be mind blowing. Why? Because of how the things were left off on Crossed. Can't wait till November 2012!

PS; I confuse Matched with Delirium all the time xD It's just so similar!!

The Immortal Rules, by Julie Kagawa, has a summary!

Hardcover, 304 pages
Expected publication: April 24th 2012

by Harlequin Teen

"In a future world

Vampires reign.

Humans are

Bloodcattle.

And one girl

Will search for the key

To save hummanity."

You will kill. The only question is when.

In the dark days since the insidious Red Lung virus decimated the human population, vampires have risen to rule the crumbling cities and suburbs. Uncontested Princes hold sway over diminished ranks of humans: their "pets." In exchange for their labor, loyalty and of course, their blood, these pets are registered, given food and shelter, permitted to survive.

Unregistered humans cling to fringes, scavenging for survival. Allison Sekemoto and her fellow Unregistereds are hunted, not only by vampires, but by rabids, the unholy result of Red Lung-infected vampires feeding on unwary humans. One night, Allie is attacked by a pack of rabids, saved by an unlikely hero...and turned vampire.

Uncomfortable in her undead skin, Allie falls in with a ragtag crew of humans seeking a cure, or cures: for Rabidism and for Vampirism. She's passing for human...for now. But the hunger is growing and will not be denied. Not for friendship—not even for love.

Oh holy cow. Go Julie Kagawa again with the girl power. This is my most expected book of 2012. I love Julie Kagawa, and I really believe that she is going to blow our minds yet again with another masterpiece. Only this time we are talking about vampires (my favorites) and a bit of Dystopian thrown in for good measure. An unlikely hero... She sure knows how to write those heroes so, really anxious to meet this guy.

Do you think this one will be as good as The iron Fey series? I sure as hell think so. What do you think of the summary? If you didn't know it was Julie writing it, would you read it?

The cover will be out next spring. Don't worry, I'm all over that!

Waiting on Wednesday x3

Paperback, 184 pages
Expected publication: February 28th 2012
by Scholastic Inc.

The definitive, richly illustrated, full-color guide to all the districts of Panem, all the participants in The Hunger Games, and the life and home of Katniss Everdeen.

Welcome to Panem, the world of The Hunger Games.  This is the definitive, richly illustrated, full-color guide to all the districts of Panem, all the participants in The Hunger Games, and the life and home of Katniss Everdeen.  A must-have for fans of both the Hunger Games novels and the new Hunger Games film.



Hardcover, 304 pages
Expected publication: July 10th 2012

by Simon Pulse

No Summary Yet.

Expected publication: May 2012
by Scholastic Inc

Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn’t dead.

Not this time.

But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey.

Her captor, John Hayden, claims it’s for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they’ve come back as Furies, intent on vengeance…on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves.

But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there…and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies.

And unless Pierce is careful, this time there’ll be no escape.

I don't know why I would need this "guide" into the Hunger Games, but it still intrigues me enough to get it. Plus I want to have all the books of The Hunger Games. The second book The Thing About the Truth has no summary, but the title, not to mention the cover, intrigues me. It will probably be contemporary YA, but I could take a stab at it. Underworld by Meg Cabot's cover I think was recently released cause I hadn't seen it before. Thought fans of the series might enjoy it ^^ I got to tell you, it's not better than the first cover but it will do. So what do you think? Which one of these are you most anticipating? What are waiting on this wednesday?

Teaser Tuesday!

404 Pages

Goodreads Page

Published Oct. 18th 2011

"Then the gray water horse tears my father from his uneasy place on the back of the red stallion.
 The gray cannot keep its ragged grip on my father's chest, and so my father falls to the sand, already ruined before the hooves get to him. He was in second place, so it take a long minute before the rest of the horses have passed over the top of his body and I can see it again. By then, he is a long, black and scarlet smear half submerged in the frothy tide. The red stallion circles, halfway to a hungry creature of the sea, but he does as I asked: He does not eat the thing that was my father."

The Scorpio Races is very graphic. This paragraph is told from a ten year old's POV. I am loving it. It was so funny, cause the races and stuff begin on November 1st, and today is November 1st and I started reading the book. So cool!

Anyways, in the poll I made you guys asked I read Eve first and then Scorpio Races, and the review for Eve is already up, so Scorpio Races is coming up next.