REVIEW: Phoenix (Black City #2) by Elizabeth Richards

Title/Series: Phoenix | Black City #2
Author: Elizabeth Richards
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Expected publication: June 4th 2013
Format: Paperback | Pages: 350
Genre: YA, Dystopian, Paranormal, Romance
Source: First Reads win thank you Penguin!!!
★★★★★ (5/5) Stars!!!!!

Elizabeth Richards | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Weeks after his crucifixion and rebirth as Phoenix, Ash Fisher believes his troubles are far behind him. He and Natalie are engaged and life seems good. But his happiness is short-lived when he receives a threatening visit from Purian Rose, who gives Ash an ultimatum: vote in favor of Rose’s Law permanently relegating Darklings to the wrong side of the wall or Natalie will be killed.

The decision seems obvious to Ash; he must save Natalie. But when Ash learns about The Tenth, a new and deadly concentration camp where the Darklings would be sent, the choice doesn’t seem so simple. Unable to ignore his conscience, Ash votes against Rose’s Law, signing Natalie’s death warrant and putting a troubled nation back into the throes of bloody battle.

I'm so excited about winning this off of Goodreads. (Big, big thanks to Penguin for doing it! I heart you guys mucho ♥!)  I've entered giveaways on there so many times before but this was my very first win. Could it have been any better than this? Nope! The Book Gods were truly smiling down on me that day. (I'm such a dork haha)

I will start off by admitting that, yes. This book frustrated me beyond all reason. I was angry and upset and characters were just pissing me off. Had I been able to reach inside the book there probably would be no need for a book 3 because most of them would be dead right now! And yet I sit here completely hooked. I mean I devoured these books. I started Black City on the evening of May 28th and here I am in the wee early hours of the 31st done with Phoenix, going a bit crazy over the fact that I have to wait until sometime in 2014 for book 3!!! Ugh. Sigh.

 

Most of my frustration fell within the love story. It started out nearly perfect. I was swooning over the engagement and things were so good. (Not a spoiler it's in the blurb!) Of course it was only about 50 pages in so you know something was going to shatter it all to pieces. And it did. A lot. My heart broke so many times through this book. It seemed every time I turned a page some force was pulling or attempting to pull Natalie and Ash apart. It wasn't just people either. A huge twist has me so torn up and worried, still. Sometimes it was just so hard to read.

Phoenix has quite a bit more action because we're thrust into the rebellion for the majority of this book.  Which was intense and exiting. Then there's the other side of it, the loss and sadness, and quite a bit of betrayal. Some of it from people I grew really attached too and I didn't see it coming. I was pretty angry and felt pretty betrayed myself! But a good part of all of that was that we get to see more of the United Sentry States. There was quite a bit of travelling and we got to learn more about their world. And meet new characters along the way. Some good. Some bad. And some...a little bit of both.

I'm emotionally spent after reading this and I have become thoroughly captivated by this world and these characters. Phoenix definitely kicked it up a notch from Black City and I cannot wait to see what book 3 has in store for me. I'm still siting here trying to process the 2nd twist that was thrown in there at the end. Is it 2014 yet? Yeah...thought not... :(

Feature and Follow Friday #01

Feature and Follow Friday is hosted by both Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. It's a way for us to meet and get to know some new bloggers. You can find out more about this feature here.

So this is my first one. I don't know why I didn't start this sooner but this weeks question was right up my alley and someone put me in theirs *Squeals and dances* and I'm all grinny now (that's a word shush!). It made me want to post one as well! :D

Q: What blogger would you most like to meet in real life? Tell us about him or her.

So I'm picking the two people that I interact the most with either here in the blogging world or on Twitter. There are tons of great bloggers out there so I'm not trying to offend any one I'd love to meet all of you but like I said I interact with them the most:

Jessica @ Lovin' Los Libros 

AND 

Danielle @ What Danielle Did Next.

I simply adore both of these girls. If two of us are in a discussion on Twitter you can almost guarantee the other one at some point is gonna butt in! :D They're awesome bloggers! They're funny and sweet and I'm so glad that I've met them (in a virtual sense) and some day in the future I think it would be so much fun to get the three of us together in one room! Though in the real world, believe it or not, I'm unbelievably shy, still I'd really like to meet both of them one day :)

Honorable mention:

Wendy @ Book Scents

I've recently started following her on Twitter and her blog and she's a great blogger and really nice! Go check her out!!

So leave me a comment if you're a new follower so I can follow you back. I love to meet and talk to fellow book lovers! Who would you like to meet in real life?

REVIEW: Black City (Black City #1) by Elizabeth Richards

Title/Series: Black City | Black City #1
Author: Elizabeth Richards
Publisher: Speak
Published: May 7th 2013
Format: Paperback | Pages: 374
Genre: YA, Dystopian, Paranormal, Romance
Source: Purchased Amazon
★★★★★ (5/5) Stars!!!!!

Elizabeth Richards | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

This series is very likely going to become a full blown book obsession of mine. It takes two of my most favorite subjects to read about and swirls them together. Dystopia and Vampires. My inner fangirl is screaming on the inside. If only you could hear her... I found this series during one of my late night Goodreads giveaway entry binges. (I prefer these to the NetGalley ones ha!) I saw Phoenix (Black City #2) listed in the Dystopian section and the cover was so pretty I just clicked on it and didn't even look it up and...then forgot all about it. So imagine my happy surprise a couple weeks ago when I check my email and it says I'm a winner! (We all knew that though...*cough* kidding...) So I look it up and realize it's a book two in a series and quickly find book one. That's when I see those two words to the right of the page of shelves it's listed on. I didn't hesitate to buy this that same day. I am so glad!

We're sucked into a dark segregated world. Quite literally, divided with walls to section off the Darkling ghettos from the humans. With the only Darklings allowed on the other side of the wall being basic slaves. Ash being an exception as he's only a half-blood and lives with his human father. Since there's now a law, post-war, excluding humans and Darklings from being together he's become a rarity and quite alone. Until he meets Natalie. A human. But not just any human. The Emissary's daughter. *Dun dun dunnnnn* Ha! There was no love at first sight but there was some loathing.

There was a lot of division within the community. The government, the religious nuts and a majority of the human world wanting to maintain the segregation and of course do even worse. There was also quite a good number of humans fighting for unity among the races.

Ash isn't the best person at first, I mean he even starts off with us giving a not so good first impression. But there was still something about him that I wasn't ready to write off that soon. And we quickly get to see a different side of him. Even realize that sometimes people do desperate, horrible things for family and/or people they love. I could go on and on about how amazing I think Ash is. Yeah he screws up. He's flawed. I stand by my amazing comment, especially at what he does over the last 30 pages that had me sniveling uncontrollably.

On the opposite side of the tracks....literally, we have Natalie who's mother is the Emissary of Black City. So she's kind of got a sort of sheltered outlook on their world. She always seemed sort of on the fence to me, though at times she did lean more towards one side than the other and it was quite back and forth for a bit there. I think her seeming to waver was due to the fact that her house was pretty divided before her father passed. You have a high official, very political mother and her father was very much an advocate for Darklings. But her transition, actually better yet the transition of both Natalie and Ash was perfect. They were both flawed. They both made mistakes. They were vulnerable. They were real. And their growth from start to finish was huge.

The supporting cast was really good too. You had those that you loved and brought more depth to those around them. And then there were others. The ones that had me so infuriated that there were times I wanted to rip my book in half and throw it across the room! I mean this all in a good way too, I love having something stir that kind of fire in me.

Overall, it was fascinating, it was heartbreaking, it was infuriating at times. It evoked all those emotions within me that a really good Dystopian always seems to do. It was truly unique and though some stuff I figured out pretty quickly there were still plenty of things that hit me out of nowhere and all I wanted to do is scream "NO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!" It definitely inspired my passionate reader side and became an instant favorite. I can't wait to open up Phoenix and dive back into this intense, intriguing, yet a little bit dark and dingy world and see where Ash and Natalie take me next.

Swoon Thursday #10

Swoon Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by YABound!

Here's what you do:

From the book you’re currently reading, or one you just finished, tell us what made you SWOON. What got your heart pounding, your skin tingling, and your stomach fluttering.

This week I'm swooning over:

Black City (Black City #1) by Elizabeth Richards

Published May 7th 2013 by Speak

 

So I need to give a tiny bit of a background to fully appreciate this scene that I'm going to type out. And my swoon will more than likely be long because it's going to be a full scene...sort of. But I love it and I'm doing it because it's MY SWOON SO THERE! :P

Natalie is a human and Ash is a half-blood Darkling. Easiest way to explain that is to think of Darklings being similar to a vampire, I mean they're a bit more complicated than that but it'll do. Ash has a human dad and a Darkling mom but still in their world it is now illegal and punishable by death for Darklings and humans to be together period. In the scene that I'm about to share Ash and Nat and some classmates are at cadet training. Ash is being used as a guinea pig for them to see if they can sense and track him. I won't get into explaining and spoiling any of that even further. Just remember these thing.... Dark room playing sort of a hide and seek thing in the pitch black. Ash and Nat aren't allowed to feel things for each other at all.

*Siiiigh* forbidden love :)

***

He veers off to the right, clearly not sensing me at all. Natalie, on the other hand, heads straight for me. I'm too stunned to move at first, and she's almost upon me before I gather my wits and sidestep out of her way. She Immediately turns and comes for me again. Even in the the dark, I can tell she's smiling.

"There's no point in running, Ash. I can feel you," she whispers.

She almost gets me again. Bloody hell! She really can sense me!

Well, there's no way I'm letting her get the better of me. I'll never live it down. I pounce Natalie, knocking her off her feet and pinning her against the wall.

"Tag, you're dead," I whisper mockingly in her ear.

Somewhere in the dark, Sebastian and the cadets move about the room, closing in.

I release Natalie's arms and expect her to walk away, but instead her hand moves up to my face and she lightly races her fingers over my lips, brushing across my fangs, making them throb with venom. My breath catches in my throat at her forbidden touch. What's she doing? If they catch her doing this to me...

"You can run, but you can't hide," Gregory taunts somewhere to my right.

Shame squirms inside my gut, loathing how my body's responding to her. A million reasons run through my head why I should push her away, but I don't. Instead, I do the one thing I shouldn't: I reach out my hand and gently touch her face. She lets out a soft breathy moan as my fingertips explore the contours of her face. In a weird way, this is the first time I've truly "seen" her; my fingertips chart a map of her features, committing every tiny detail to memory. Desire and guilt wage a war inside me, and I'm torn between wanting her and my loyalty to my species. She's a Sentry. This is so wrong! And yet I'm unable to control myself. My fingers brush over her smooth skin, running past the dimple on her left cheek before finding the soft fullness of her lips.

"Ash," she sighs, tilting her head up.

Her lips touch mine. They barely make contact, but a force like a lightening bolt shoots through them and straight into my heart.

***

Ahhhhhh I'm in love with this book. I just have nothing to say to follow up to that. I have about 100 more pages to go so I'm gonna go get to that. I'm glad I remembered to stop and do this though for tomorr--err today since the part I'm at right now is breaking my heart. Good to remember a happier time! But before I go, let me know what made you swoon this week!

Waiting on Wednesday #14

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking The Spine where we share with everyone upcoming new releases that we're eager to get our hands on! :)

I've got a few of them again this week! Two of them by two of my most absolute favorite authors!! *Super Excited Chair Dance* Enough of this let's get to it :D

Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Expected publication: May 31st 2013 
by Entangled Publishing, LLC (Covet)

He’s arrogant, domineering, and... To. Die. For.

Hunter is a ruthless killer. And the Department of Defense has him firmly in their grasp, which usually doesn’t chafe too badly because he gets to kill bad guys. Most of the time he enjoys his job. That is, until he’s saddled with something he’s never had to do before: protect a human from his mortal enemy.

Serena Cross didn’t believe her best friend when she claimed to have seen the son of a powerful senator turn into something... unnatural. Who would? But then she witnesses her friend’s murder at the hands of what can only be an alien, thrusting her into a world that will kill to protect their secret.

Hunter stirs Serena’s temper and her lust despite their differences. Soon he’s doing the unthinkable—breaking the rules he’s lived by, going against the government to keep Serena safe. But are the aliens and the government the biggest threats to Serena’s life…or is it Hunter?

Fractured Souls (Shattered Promises #2) by Jessica Sorensen
Expected publication: June 2013  
(That's all I've got!)

Gemma thought she had said her good-byes and had felt every possible emotion she could before her soul was detached again. Deep down inside, she hoped she’d never wake up from it because, in her eyes, life without emotion and memories isn’t worth living.

But she does wake up and discovers she can still feel and remember everything she experienced over the last few months. Alex is also telling her that everything’s okay, that he didn’t betray her, and that what she thought happened really didn’t. 

Gemma isn’t sure if she can trust Alex, so she tries to keep her distance from him, even though the electric connection and her desire make it nearly impossible. The only person she can trust is Laylen, but even that becomes complicated when the lines of their friendship begin to blur.

While Gemma struggles with her emotions and relationships, she searches for her mother, entering a dangerous world of secrets, seduction, and evil. The further she digs into her mother’s secrets and past, the more she wonders what waits for her at the end of her search and if maybe some things are better left in the dark.

**Mature Content Warning** 17+ for language and sexual content.

Safe Word by Teresa Mummert
Expected publication: June 1st 2013
by Teresa Mummert 

A chance meeting with a stranger can turn your entire world upside down. 

When Colton ‘Colt’ Bishop enters a bar in New York City, he has a plan. His job is to find an easy target and take her back to his place for a few days. He is working his way up the crime ladder doing a job he never wanted.

Lily Hilton has it all, but is hiding from a troublesome past. When she enters a bar downtown, and runs into her old high school crush, her entire world is turned upside down. She is determined to make him notice her, but that plan may work better than she expects. 

Colton does not hesitate to take Lily home and use her as his new pawn, but their past begins to catch up with them as their secrets unravel and he must decide what is more important to him, protecting Lily or himself.

Jennifer L Armentrout AND Jessica Sorensen ahhhhh! I don't know if I can take that much awesome so close together!! Lots of fun books coming out soon :)

Anything excite you this week?

Top Ten Tuesday #13

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! 

This weeks topic is....

Since it's freebie week I figure I'd go back to the one I missed a couple weeks ago, especially with the couple of weeks I've had with reading. 

Top Ten Books I Thought I'd Like More/Less Than I Did

Some of these I have a love/hate relationship with. But let's just jump right in!

Thought I'd Like MORE...

#1 Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Let me just start by saying that I didn't hate this book. It was good, Étienne was a dream blah blah blah. It was just frustrating to me. I love a good love triangle. This just had too many sides. Too many people in the way. So while I enjoyed it... I just still wanted more from it. Maybe not more, maybe just...different? I don't know. I liked it, just didn't live up to my expectations. 

#2 From Ashes by Molly McAdams

I loved the start...I raged through most of the middle...and I loved the end. Needless to say this book and I have a major love/hate thing going on. By the end I guess I can say that...I'm happy I read it? I'm still thoroughly confused about my feelings lol. 

#3 True by Erin McCarthy

Oh sweet lord this book. The only thing that kept me going for the most part was 1) Thinking there was something wrong with me that I was hating it yet everyone else was giving it 4 and 5 star reviews and 2) Tyler. His character was the one bright spot in the whole book. Overall I was satisfied by the end but not quite as satisfied as everybody around me. 

#4 Dark Wolf by Kate Douglas

I fell in love with the cover. And it really sounded like a fun read. I was looking forward to the mystery case of the rapes/murders. Sadly I got very little mystery and quite a lot of sex. And not just sex. Group sex. And even a nice little sex scene between wolves. Hot right? Excuse me while I go throw up again from reliving the experience...

#5 The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher

There was so much wrong with this book in MY opinion that I don't even know where to begin. Besides everything I put in my review, which believe it or not was me trying to be nice, I didn't complain about the mess it was to read. Simply because I know it's an unfinished copy but still I wanted to question her writing process. There was next to none capitalization through a lot of it. And the places it did have some, it was in the mIdddLe of wOrds quite randOmLy. Headache. Mess. Just no.

Thought I'd Like LESS...

#6 The Lux Series by Jennifer L Armentrout

I seriously can't believe there was a day when I thought...aliens? Are you kidding me? But I couldn't resist Pepe and that Obsidian cover. THANKFULLY.  Hands down my favorite series OF ALL TIME. Along with my favorite book boyfriend of all time ♥ Daemon Black ♥

#7 The Covenant Series by Jennifer L Armentrout

The reason for this one is a bit different. By the time I'd discovered this series I was already a huge fan of JLA. So why was I doubting you ask? Well I wasn't...exactly. I mean I had a feeling I would like this series, but you see I am such a major Lux fangirl that I didn't think I'd ever find anything to compare to how I feel about that series. Let me just say that with only 2 Covenant books under my belt and a third in progress...I'm completely hooked! I should of known better :)

#8 The Wolves of Mercy Falls Series by Maggie Stiefvater

I've always been a vampire girl and my bestie has leaned more towards the werewolf side. Yeah we're Team Edward, Team Jacob divided as well. So after we'd finished reading the Fallen series together she was raving about this book Shiver and kept telling me I needed to read the series next. The vampire girl in me kept fighting her on it until eventually I broke down and bought not only Shiver but Linger and Forever as well. Normally I don't buy an entire series unless I know I like it but stupid me bought them all. I will say I wasn't fully into Shiver but I made it through and when I wasn't blown away I was kicking myself for buying the other 2. Not wanting to put money to waste I went ahead and started Linger. What a difference one book made. I fell in love with the last two books and it turned me into a partial wolf girl :)

#9 Between The Lines Series by Tammara Webber

When I read the blurb I just didn't think I would be interested in some Hollywood Heartthrob trying to hook up with his new costar. It just sounded cheesy. But...I had previously read Easy also by Tammara Webber so I figured that anyone who can write a book that good was worth trying out whatever else she'd written no matter what I thought about the summary. I am SO glad I tried because I LOVE this series. Tammara Webber is amazing PERIOD. A character I loathed with a fiery passion from the depths of hell from book one and book two? She turned me completely around by book 3 and dare I say...I ended up adoring him? That's talent!

#10 Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzhpatrick

I heard about this series shortly after reading the Fallen series. So when I looked up Hush, Hush I pretty much felt like they were going to be too similar and I probably was going to have a hard time reading it because I liked Fallen way too much. Granted I've only read this one at this point (the other 3 are sitting on my desk and I'll hopefully get to them soon) but I don't feel like they're all that alike at all, though who knows maybe it'll change in the rest of the books but we'll see. I really enjoyed this one.

So there you have it 5 books I liked more and 5 books I liked less than I thought I would! What did you all do for your TTT Freebie week?

ARC REVIEW: The Island by Jen Minkman

Title/Series: The Island
Author: Jen Minkman
Publisher: Patchwork Press
Expected publication: June 1st 2013
Format: eBook | Pages: 80
Genre: YA, Distopian, Sci-Fi
Source: NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
★★✩ (2.5/5) Stars!

Jen Minkman | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

‘I walk toward the sea. The endless surface of the water extends to the horizon, whichever way I look.

Our world is small. We are on our own, and we only have ourselves to depend on. We rely on the Force deep within us, as taught to us by our forefathers. 

If I were to walk westward from here, I would come across a barrier – the Wall.

Behind it, there are Fools. At least, that’s what everyone says.

I have never seen one.’

Leia lives on the Island, a world in which children leave their parents to take care of themselves when they are ten years old. Across this Island runs a wall that no one has ever crossed. The Fools living behind it are not amenable to reason – they believe in illusions. That’s what The Book says, the only thing left to the Eastern Islanders by their ancestors. 

But when a strange man washes ashore and Leia meets a Fool face to face, her life will never be the same. Is what she and her friends believe about the Island really true?

Or is everyone in their world, in fact, a Fool?

This is hard. The idea and that blurb were great. I was excited, yet a bit worried as it's only 80 pages and I was afraid it wouldn't be enough or be too rushed to get everything in. Needless to say those should have been the least of my worries. Look I'm not saying this book is terrible. Because for what it truly is, it's okay and there's a particular group of people who will probably go crazy over it. I'm just not one of them.

Let me explain. When I first started a few things clicked for me and I felt like maybe I was reading some sort of Star Wars Fan Fiction, I know that's not the right word for what this is but it was just first instinct. Let me give you an example. Our main character's name is...Leia and she has a twin brother named, yep you got it Luc (Luke). But it's not just the two of them there are quite a few other main players who had names that were just a one off from a Star Wars character. Such as Leia's best friend (J)Abba who happens to be dating (L)Ando and then there's the "Leader" of them who is Sol(o) and his brother Ben. I mean you see where I'm coming from with my suspicions right?

But not only that, Leia kept talking about the Force. Yes, The Force. And how they were supposed to be feeling it from within and so on and so forth. That pretty much clinched my conclusion. Until somewhere around 25-30% in "The Book" that's mentioned in the blurb up there, well Leia sneaks in to look at it and on the cover are their ancestors, the first people on the island...Luke Skywalker...Han Solo...Leia...*Sigh* Honestly I'm more disappointed in myself for not picking up on it now that I reread the blurb and see both Leia and the word Force jump out at me but my brain didn't connect the two until all those other names started popping up.

I am the biggest Distoypia addict. I will get books based on that fact alone. They excite me and thrill me to no end. But with this, I felt sort of cheated. If I wanted to read about Star Wars characters it would be one thing. But that's just not the sort of thing that I'm into. Love the movies, would like to keep them just as that. Movies. And like I said I promise this book isn't horrible. Take out the Star Wars references and the other stuff was really good and could have been so much better. I think really hard core Star Wars people will probably enjoy this quite a bit. Sadly it's just not something I was into.

I'd still like to thank Patchwork Press for the opportunity to read and review this book! :)

Weekly Haul #12

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Mod Podge Bookshelf and Stacking the shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Both of which are ways for us to show off the lovely new goodies we got over the past week/month however you decide to do it. (Because let's face it, us bookish types love to drag everyone down with us.)

Just a few things for my Kindle this week. I'm taking a break from NetGalley because obviously my decision making is questionable. So let's see what I got!

Freebies:

Off Limits (Off Series #2) by Sawyer Bennett

Now I haven't even read nor do I own book one yet. At least I don't think I do.. it could be hiding somewhere in my Nook or Kindle and I'm oblivious. (I really need to go through them one of these days!) But I want to read it and this one was free how can you pass that up?!

$0.99:

Selling Scarlett (Love Inc #1) by Ella James
I loved her Stained Series and this is quite different from that but I'm really looking forward to it!!

The Bet by Rachel Van Dyken
It said "Seattle Millionaire" so I'm hoping that means it's set in Seattle so that was my first must read reason. The second one..I love a good bet romance. :D

There Is No Light In Darkness (Darkness #1) by Claire Contreras
Aestas Book Blog's Goodreads status updates for this book had me super intrigued. Sounds like it's going to be a really good read!

Won:

(This came in this evening after I'd already typed everything else up so I'll throw it in here at the end.)
Goodreads First Reads Win:
Thank you Kensington Publishing Corp!!

Invisible by Marni Bates

This looks super cute and I'm looking forward to reading it. I love the cover too. I have a feeling this one will be fun :D

So that's what I picked up this week. What did you get this week? :)

ARC REVIEW: The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher

Title/Series: The S-Word
Author: Chelsea Pitcher
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: May 7th 2013
Format: eBook | 304 pages
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Source: NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
★ (1/5) Stars

Chelsea Pitcher | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

First it was SLUT scribbled all over Lizzie Hart’s locker.

But one week after Lizzie kills herself, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie's looping scrawl.

Lizzie’s reputation is destroyed when she's caught in bed with her best friend’s boyfriend on prom night. With the whole school turned against her, and Angie not speaking to her, Lizzie takes her own life. But someone isn’t letting her go quietly. As graffiti and photocopies of Lizzie’s diary plaster the school, Angie begins a relentless investigation into who, exactly, made Lizzie feel she didn’t deserve to keep living. And while she claims she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, Angie's own anguish over abandoning her best friend will drive her deep into the dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull herself back out.

Debut author Chelsea Pitcher daringly depicts the harsh reality of modern high schools, where one bad decision can ruin a reputation, and one cruel word can ruin a life. Angie’s quest for the truth behind Lizzie’s suicide is addictive and thrilling, and her razor-sharp wit and fierce sleuthing skills makes her impossible not to root for—even when it becomes clear that both avenging Lizzie and avoiding self-destruction might not be possible.

With paragraphs that were forgotten soon after reading them and awkward dialogue and phrases such as:

Plus, she's got that ass people rap about.

OR

Like you care about your blow-up doll?

The S-Word has made it's way, with lightening speed, to the top of my "Can I just get the last few hours of my life back? Please?" list. 

It's sad because for the most part the blurb sounded pretty interesting. I figured it had a bit of potential, I did have my doubts due to the whole sleeping with the best friends boyfriend and all the slut shaming that was sure to ensue but I wanted to give it a try anyway. I wish I hadn't.

There was just too many things that made me excessively roll my eyes while reading this book. The fact that the teenagers all hang out at a dirty underground sort of coffee shop that doesn't seem to care if they bring in flasks full of booze in with them. Classy! Or how Angie, whom if I'm going to be perfectly honest I had forgotten her name until it was mentioned again at about 12% in, fancies herself to be quite the detective and most of the time she acted like she was in a 1950s Film Noir piece. Her detective work just seemed too over the top. Her reactions and the reactions of those she "questioned" or were her "suspects" just became completely ridiculous. And because of the excruciating dialogue, like the examples above. It was hard to pick up and easy to put down. 

But now I want to go back to the subject that had me scratching my head once I really thought about it. Why would people even be responding to Angie when she questioned them about Lizzie and the slut shaming? She'd ask, they'd eventually spill along with some secret or something. Why? She's just a classmate. I think had not everything else bothered me I probably wouldn't of cared and may have even found it fun. But...

When I actually did pick it up I found myself skimming quite a bit and parts that I didn't skim wound up leaving me just as fast as I turned to the next page. The only thing I didn't get irritated with and made any sort of sense to me was the random and rambling diary entries of Lizzie's. I wish I had something more positive to say but for me, there just wasn't any.

REVIEW: Pure (Covenant #2) by Jennifer L Armentrout

Title/Series: Pure | Covenant #2
Author: Jennifer L Armentrout
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Published: April 3rd 2012
Format: Paperback | Pages 329
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance, Mythology
Source: Purchased B&N
★★★★★ (5/5) Stars!!!!

Jennifer L Armentrout | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

There is need. And then there is Fate... 

Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome--especially when Alexandria's "other half" is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom--so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do--and sacrifice--for her. 

When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies--lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon... and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude... or killing her. 

When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.

Pure had me seeing, so much more than Half-Blood did, why people always seem to say that this is their favorite series when you mention Jennifer L Armentrout. She's starting to make a habit of pulling me in with book one in a series. Only to kick it up a notch and keep setting the bar just a little bit higher with each book that comes along. I can't wait to see what's in store with me for Deity, Apollyon and Sentinel. *Excitedly bounces in chair* I gotta stop that, it makes it hard to type!

This book was absolutely laugh out loud funny through quite a bit of it. I love Alex and her snarky-say-what's-on-her-mind-no-matter-what ways. Some of her thoughts and the lines that came out of her mouth had me laughing so hard I was afraid I'd wake someone during my late night reading binges. One of my favorites was this moment with Seth:

Seth sighed again, this time much louder than before. Quietly and

rather casually, he reached over and tugged me across the couch.

I ended up with the side of my face smooshed against his thigh and

his heavy arm draped over my side. "What are you--?"

"Shh," he murmured. "I'm watching the movie."

I tried to sit up, but didn't make it very far. His arm weighed a ton.

Several unsuccessful attempts later, I gave up. "So...uh, you're a 

Team Edward kind of guy?" 

He snorted. "No. I'm Team James or Team Tyler's Van, but apparently 

neither of them won by the look of it. She's still alive."

I mean come on, I'm a HUGE Twilight fan (Yeah suck it people I'm a fan and I'm proud! lol) but even I have to admit, that's pretty damn funny! And there was so many more moments that were equally as awesome. And they were needed. Because it wasn't all fun and games. There was quite a bit of heartache too. Oh yeah I had to reach for the tissues on this book.

If Half-Blood had me swooning over Aiden through the whole book, it completely flip-flopped on me in Pure. I wanted to stab him. Repeatedly. I had urges to roll my eyes and close the book every time I saw his name appear. I know not everyone has read this so I can't even really hint at to my reasons why but ugh! Literally until the last TWO PAGES, T-W-O, I just couldn't stand him. I'm still not liking him a whole lot but right at the end there he really stepped up to the plate and did something that made me remember why I liked him so much in book one. 

Seth on the other hand, okay you guys are going to think I'm crazy I realize this, but I love him. I am so Team Seth at this point. (I did say at this point I still have more books to read things may change lol) I KNOW, I know he is arrogant, and full of himself, and cocky, and loves to talk about himself and how awesome he is but....come on the guy is pretty freaking awesome! And the sides of him that aren't all of those things, that come out in tiny waves, for Alex? Yeah those made me fall for him. What can I say the jerk-face makes me laugh!

And there's sort of a new mystery person. Brown Eyes. From the moment that servant first made an appearance, I have this feeling, it was instant, I'm 99.9999999% sure that I know who he's going to turn out to be. And if it's true...oh holy juicy hell...it's gonna be good!! So I'm just throwing it out there now, so when we do find out what's up with him I can either do the "I was right! I was right!" dance or the head hanging of shame. Come onnnn dance!

So overall this one was so much better than the first one. More laughter, drama, action, mystery, betrayals, sadness. More everything! Jennifer L Armentrout at her finest!