Teaser Tuesday 08/04/14 "The King by J.R. Ward"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
  Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

This week my current read is The King by J.R. Ward.

The teaser sentences come from page 215.

 

"Wrath didn't wake up so much as surface from sleep likea buoy floating up from depths to bounce on a choppy surface.

He was in the pitch dark of his blindness, naturally- and as always he threw out his arm to the opposite side of the bed - crash!"

 

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: HYPERION (23 Jan 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 978-1423171027
• It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. 
  
  Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. 
  
  Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?
  
  Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.
  
  --
  
  A timeless love story, THESE BROKEN STARS sets into motion a sweeping science fiction series of companion novels. The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

Cover: Without a doubt, one of the most beautiful YA covers out there.  It was what initially drew me to this book.  The colours are so vibrant.  Love it.

This was a bit of a disappointment.  I was hoping for an epic sci-fi/romance.  I had to force myself to keep reading.  The last 100 pages picked up and I was really into it.  But, getting to that point was a struggle.  I just didn't feel much happened.  

I liked that it was dual point of view, but I really didn't like Lilac's character.  At all.

Tarver...he was much more likable.

The book is mostly Tarver and Lilac walking through wilderness after the huge spaceship The Icarus (think Titanic in space) crashed, leaving them as the sole survivors.

Some twists and turns in there, but for the most part it was just dull.

2/5 stars.

Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters #1) by Juliet Marilier

Publisher: Tor Books
Format: Paperback 560 pages
Published: 18 February 2002








ISBN 10: 0765343436

Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.

But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift-by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever.

When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs at ever being able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all...

Cover:  I have to be honest, I freaking hate this cover.  I hate the mass market paperback, but the cover is just horrific.  It looks ancient.  It was only published in 2000 but it looks like it should have been published early 90's.  While the cover may be relevant, but I just wish it was prettier.


I've heard an awful lot of amazing things about Juliet Marillier's books, and have wanted to pick one up for a while, mainly this one, but was put off by the covers.  I freely admit it.  Not a fan.  And I have to say, they don't do the book any favours.
It took me quite a while to get into.  About 200 pages.  Up to that it was quite slow, heavily worded- as this is a fantasy novel.  But it did change it's pace slightly at that 200 page mark.  I got more into when Red came into it if I'm honest.
Sorcha's six brothers have been cursed to live as swans, and only she can bring them back by painstakingly toiling to sew them each a shirt out of a viciously barbed plant.
This was a much darker read than I expected.  Sorcha goes through and suffers so much.
Her connection and her love for her brothers was amazing, and rarely faultered.  She was so strong, even thought when the story starts off she's just 13.
I wish we had seen more of the romance element between Red and Sorcha.
4/5 stars.

Death Note Black Edition Vol. 1 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media; Black edition (20 Jan 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1421539640

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects--and he\'s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal...or his life?

Cover: I LOVE this cover.  In person it's a velvet-buttery cover, and then just the pop of white for the image and the text.  LOVE IT.

It's very hard for me to review manga- I haven't reasd an awful lot of it, so I don't feel my opinion holds too much weight.  But I wanted to check out Death Note because two of my very good BookTube friends have read the series and loved it- so trusting their opinion- I was intrigued enough to want to read it.
But I can say I thoroughly enjoyed this.  The plot was fantastic - a Japanese Death God dropping a notebook into the human world, that when a human's name is written into the book, they die.
Light finds this notebook, and while at first he's hesitant to believe it's powers, he soon tests it.  When it works he decides to rid the world of evil, and to rule over a new, better world.  But soon the Police can see that so many criminals dying of supposed cardiac arrest is suspicious, and they recruit L, a crime solving whizz to track down the mysterious killer.
I was riveted from the start.  I loved the images, especially those of Ryuk, the Death God, he was really creepy looking.
It was really fast paced, and I loved that this edition has the first two books in one.  Light and L were really interesting characters.  Both were highly intelligent, but seeing Light's reasoning and madness-like approach to ridding the world of evil, yet surely becoming what it is he's killing was thrilling to read.
Highly recommend this is you've been thinking of picking it up, or trying a manga, like I did.
I'm really looking forward to picking up the next one.
5/5 stars.

March 2014 Reading Wrap Up

Booking Through Thursday 03/04/14

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Booking Through Thursday and a different question is posted every week.

Do you write in your books? Highlight? Make notes? Or do you like to keep your copies as pristine as possible?

When it comes to my books, I like to keep them looking as brand new as I possibly can.  I never write or highlight in them. Ever.

Waiting On Wednesday 02/04/14 'Plus One'

Waiting on Wednesday is all about sharing the books that I'm eagerly waiting to be released.

This week, the book I'm waiting on is Plus One.  I've literally just stumbled across this one on Goodreads, the cover totally pulled me in, and it sounds right up my street.
Released April 8th.

Divided by day and night and on the run from authorities, star-crossed young lovers unearth a sinister conspiracy in this compelling romantic thriller.

Seventeen-year-old Soleil Le Coeur is a Smudge—a night dweller prohibited by law from going out during the day. When she fakes an injury in order to get access to and kidnap her newborn niece—a day dweller, or Ray—she sets in motion a fast-paced adventure that will bring her into conflict with the powerful lawmakers who order her world, and draw her together with the boy she was destined to fall in love with, but who is also a Ray.

Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights, and a fast-paced romantic adventure story.