Sunday, July 22, 2012

Book Review: Slide by Jill Hathaway

Slide by Jill Hathaway 
Release Date: 1st March 2012 
Publisher: HarperCollins 
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 250
Rating: 3.0/5.0


This book was read as part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge

Summary from Amazon:
buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery"Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister's friend Sophie didn't kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn't actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else's mind and experiences the world through that person's eyes. She's slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed "friend" when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie's slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can't bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting distant lately, especially now that she's been spending more time with Zane.


Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again."

Review: 
I was excited to read this book. The premise of the story, I thought, was very original and interesting; Vee Bell, a mostly average high school girl, has the ability to 'slide' into other people, and see exactly what they see - it's a really interesting idea. Unfortunately, however, I don't really think Jill Hathaway was able to pull it off. Looking back on the book now, all I can really say about it was that it was only an average book. For me, the characters were unremarkable and the plot was predictable. It was a shame really, because the sliding aspect of the story was really interesting to read about, and was really well written. It was just the rest of the book for me - characters that I didn't like and a plot that I could easily predict just brought the whole novel down. Overall, just an average read.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Book Review: Tempest (Tempest #1) by Julie Cross

Tempest (Tempest #1) by Julie Cross 
Release Date: 5th January 2012 
Publisher: Pan Macmillan 
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 352
Rating: 5.0/5.0


This book was read as part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge

Summary from Amazon:
buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery"The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world."

Review: 
I really, really enjoyed this book - much more than I expected to. and its kinda hard for me to explain exactly why. With the clarity of hindsight (that is, I've been too busy to get around to this review for a month or so), I can say that the novel isn't necessarily anything special. What I mean is, there isn't really anything I can pinpoint that sets this novel apart from the rest (I mean, romance with a bit of time-travel thrown in there, it's been done before). But there is just something about this book that made me enjoy it immensely. The plot was interesting and well thought out, and the characters were likeable and relatable. Just go and read the book....NOW! :D 

Monday, July 2, 2012

Musing Mondays (9)


buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery
Musing Mondays is a weekly Meme by Mizb @ Should Be Reading
This weeks musing asks... When you're stuck for a book to read next, what do you do?
Gotta be honest, this doesn't really happen to me. It tends to be that for every book I read, I find 5 others to add to my reading list, so my list ends up very, very long. For me, its more a matter of deciding which book to read next. Sometimes I'll have a couple of books at one given time that I want to read, so it's always a matter of which one do I choose!
What about you? What's your fail-proof plan for when/if you get stuck for a book to read next?

Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Quarterly Challenge Update Post


For my first year of blogging, I decided to participate in 3 blogging challenges.
Some of the books I'm reading apply to more than one challenge. So far, I've managed the following:


4/5 books read for the Around the Stack in How Many Ways? Challenge
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory 
Vixen by Jillian Larkin

11/15 books read for the Off the Shelf! Challenge

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
The Magician by Michael Scott
The Sorceress by Michael Scott
The Necromancer by Michael Scott
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 
The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory 
Vixen by Jillian Larkin
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi


5/6 books read for the Debut Author Challenge
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Tempest by Julie Cross (review coming soon!)
Slide by Jill Hathaway (review coming soon!)


What about you? Are you participating in any reading challenges this year, and if so, how are you going?
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