Ally Carter, You Have Made My Day

Yo everybody! I just got some exciting news from one of my bestest friends:

AHH!!! ISN'T IT AMAZING??

Doesn't that just look decedent? This is the sequel to Heist Society, and it features some of my favorites. Namely, cute boys and con artists. Can not wait! You can check out Ally Carter's website here where she posts news and other goodies!

Harry Potter News: Alright, halfway through Harry Potter #1. I talked to some friends of mine today who've read the books; one said she finished them in two months, one said she finished them in a year. Don't know who I'll be, but I hope I finish it in one month.

Harry Potter and Paige's Blog Posts

If you read my "Reading Now" section, over on your right, you'll notice that I'm currently reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerers' Stone. For those of you not familiar with the Harry Potter series, where have you been? But for those of you who have heard/read the series, you know that it's an extremely long series, with seven books, each growing steadily longer with each passing page (the last one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, is 784 pages long. Yeah, I know). And so it seems that I will not be blogging for quite some time. It's not because I have fallen off the face of the earth or into some deep, dark hole in the middle of nowhere. It is merely because I am (hopefully) enjoying the long Harry Potter series. I'll still tune in for author news or releases, but there will be no book reviews in the coming weeks.

Bookishly Yours,

Paige

Virals by Kathy Reichs

Genre: teen science fiction, adventure, and mystery
Age Group: Young Adult
Series and Book #: Virals, book 1
Pages: 454
Synopsis: Adventure has always been in fourteen-year-old Tory Brennan's blood. After all, she is the niece of world-famous forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. So when she moves to middle of nowhere Morris Island, South Carolina, to live with a marine biologist dad she's never known. Tory does the best she can to adjust to her new life. There she meets a group of local kids who are just as "Sci-Phile" as she is--science geeks who've grown up exploring the backwoods marshlands of nearby Loggerhead Island. But there's something strange going on at the Loggerhead Research Institute...maybe even something deadly. After rescuing a stray wolfdog pup from a top-secret lab, Tory and her friends are exposed to a rare strain of canine parvovirus, changing them--and their DNA--forever. Now, with newly heightened senses and canine-quick reflexes, they'll have to solve a cold-case murder that's suddenly become very hot...that is, if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent. Fortunately, they are now more than friends. They area  pack. They are Virals.

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I don't know what I can give you after that summary, but I can tell you one thing. This isn't about genetically-enhanced werewolves. It's about human beings who have been exposed to a deadly virus that has added canine DNA to their existing human DNA, giving them canine-like abilities.

This book was very good, which somewhat shocked me. Reichs is originally an adult author, and so I was wondering if she would add too many adult things in her young adult book. But she did very well with the switch of audience, I thought. Tory is very much like a teenage girl. Her reactions to certain situations may not be normal for an average American teenage girl, but her emotions and thoughts were like one.

Overall, Virals was a pleasing book. There was mystery, action, adventure...and so many twists and turns that I just had to keep flipping pages! Reichs did a wonderful job with Tory's voice, although in the beginning, her describing Morris Island and surrounding areas was very close to the tiniest detail, which irked me. But as the story progressed, it became much better.

The Cover: One thing that bugs me the most about famous authors: their names are always bigger than the title of the book. This is what's happening here. Your eyes are drawn to the authors name, not the title. I would like to read the book, not the author.

Release: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Ninety-five days, and then I'll be safe. I wonder whether the procedure will hurt. I want to to get it over with. It's hard to be patient. It's hard not to be afraid while I'm still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn't touched me yet. Still, I worry. They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness. The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.

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It's finally come! The Delirium release! I've heard so much about this book, so many many good things! And I've heard many good things about Lauren Oliver herself. This book sounds very interesting. A dystopian world where love doesn't exist. There has been The Hunger Games, where two are sentenced to die from your district to remind you not to rebel; there's Matched, where love is very key; there's Uglies, where becoming pretty is key, but not really love; and there's The Giver where perfection seems to be their only key. Every wide range of things, but no one has written about love being gone. I am apprehensive, though, as to whether or not I will cry during this book. With love gone, I have no idea what it will be like. I'm hoping that Oliver does have a happy ending to it (but I've heard that this is a series. Cliff-hangers!).

P.S.: Happy February!

<3 Paige

Daily Dose (7)

Daily Dose is a meme hosted by Good Golly Miss Holly where we share inspirational photos we've found around the Internet. I guess I was feeling romantic today....

<3 Paige

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (7)

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey where we share what books we're read, what we're reading, and what we're hoping to read. I'm very indecisive about what books I want to read, but I think I've narrowed it down.

Read:

Wolves, Boys, & Other Things that might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Reading:

Virals by Kathy Reichs

To Read:

Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Genre: teen fantasy
Age Group: Young Adult
Series and Book #: Paranormalcy Trilogy, book 1
Pages: 352
Synopsis: Evie's always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only one who can see through paranormals' glamours. But Evie's about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures. So much for normal.

~~

I read this book I believe last summer and I was thinking about how wonderful it was a week ago and how surprised I was that I hadn't yet reviewed it. So here we go into a total realm of awesome.

Paranormalcy was one of those books I kept seeing everywhere. Everyone was talking about it, blogs were raving, and when one of my friends bought it, I immediately asked if I could borrow it. A few hearty laughs later and I was beaming at Evie and the excellent teenage writing of White. This book was so awesome.

Evie is such an adorable character, and I love her Taser (that's pink...and BeDazzled). I just fall in love with her on the very first page. What she's going through and how she thinks about it really is part of the main focus of the book; she's worked for the IPCA her entire life and when she meets Lend it all changes. She goes with him and sees what life's like outside of the IPCA; something she's never really gotten a chance to do. She's witty, funny, and also very serious, especially when something happens to her best friend.

The side characters were wonderful too. White really knew how to weave Evie with the side characters so you could see how Evie really depended on the people around her. Reth was one of my favorite characters, also; I love cocky, clever, and evil characters for some strange, strange reason.

Overall, Paranormalcy is just one of those rare, out-of-this-world awesome books. It's unique and special. It even features mermaids, which aren't exactly popular in YA but I still love them. White has done an amazing job with this first novel and I can't wait for the second, Supernormalcy, coming sometime (I hope) in the near future.

The Cover: It's dark, but light. The model looks a lot like how I pictured Evie. Even the dress and hair style is featured in the book! So pretty, and so appropriate.